Summer of Change
by HollyShannenForever
Summary: A growing up story. Esme Platt has just gotten a babysitting job for little Rosalie Hale. Carlisle Cullen is her best friend who she's known for years & she's had a crush on him since middle school. Unbeknownst to her, he's loved her since they were 7. He's not the only one who has eyes for her. She thought she would have an awesome & happy summer, but she had another thing coming.
1. Babysitting

Esme POV:

I stared down at the Geometry exam I was taking. There was no way I would pass this stupid thing. I passed everything else, and I even got through Geometry with an A minus, so if I flunked the exam, I would get a B, which isn't bad. This one question was so hard that I skipped it. I scanned my eyes down the paper and tapped my pencil lightly on my desk a few times. Damn, they were all hard. I sneaked a peek at the next page and sighed. It was tough, so I had to guess.

_Come on, Esme, just another half hour of this torture, then it's summertime! And summer means a babysitting job, Mom teaching me how to drive, and lazy days with Carlisle, Renee, Carmen, Charlotte, and Siobhan..._

My mind wandered whenever I was bored or frustrated. I tried to get myself back on track, but last night's phone call wouldn't leave me alone.

_"You got the job,"_

_"You got the job,"_

_"You got the job,"_

"I got the job," I whispered to myself confidently. "I really did it,"

I would start tonight. The woman who hired me, Lily, trusted me completely when I told her I had plenty of experience taking care of my four year old twin sisters Vera and Bree and my six year old brother Edward along with Carlisle's nine year old brother Jasper and his eleven year old sister Kate, Charlie and Renee's three kids-six year old Bella, eight year old Alice, and nine year old Emmett, and Siobhan and Liam's newborn daughter, Maggie. And Carmen's daughter, Angela, who was six and all the Native American kids from the La Push reservation...yeah, you could have mistaken me for a kindergarten teacher if you saw me with all those kids. Don't get me wrong, I love children, but it's hard to get everyone together when there's something huge, like a wedding, going on. I had started babysitting with my friends, Carmen, Charlotte, and Siobhan, when we were thirteen, and when Renee was in her last year of college with three little kids on the loose. We helped her out a lot. She was pregnant, yet again, and her baby, Cynthia, would be born in a few weeks. She was eight years older than us and she used to babysit us when we were kids to when we graduated elementary school and could stay home alone by ourselves. All of us lived just a few houses away from each other, but no one knew Lily Hale, her seven year old daughter, Rosalie, or Lily's husband, Charles. The kids we knew, knew Rosalie from Forks Elementary, but Lily never asked me to babysit for her little girl before. Maybe Rosalie told her mom about me.

I let the pencil drop to the floor as I closed my eyes while resting my hand on my cheek. I bent down to get it, but Carlisle beat me to it. He handed me my pencil and then I blushed. "Thank you,"

"Spacing out again, Es?" he asked, chuckling quietly.

"This test is so hard!" I rolled my eyes and tried to focus. I made silly answers that I knew were wrong for the rest of the exam, and when I handed it into the teacher, I was ready to make a run for it out the door with Carlisle and my girlfriends.

My mind drifted off to Carlisle. He was my best guy friend who I've known since we were in second grade. When I was in middle school, I developed a crush on him because he was a great talker and boy, was he handsome! But all the girls liked him, and I would probably remain his best friend forever. We went through everything together. We both made treats, swam, played basketball and tennis, played on the swingset, loved kids, and were close to our families. We knew lots of things about each other. There wasn't a secret in the world that we kept from each other. The only secrets we kept, we both knew and no one else did. Well, maybe I lied...I secretly love him. Not just some schoolgirl crush, I was crazy about him. Whenever we hugged, my insides melted and my legs felt like jelly. I loved his voice. When his mom died recently from a longtime illness and a coma, I let him cry on my shoulder. When my father abandoned me and my mother, he stayed with me until I stopped feeling bad. I thought we were meant to be together, because he never actually went out with any girls, and I had no romantic interests in guys except for one in middle school, but the crush only lasted for two weeks. My crush on Carlisle had lasted for two years, but so far, we've been nothing but a pair of close friends. The girls always said we'd look cute together, but I denied it. I wouldn't believe them until he and I were a couple.

We only lived a block away from the school, and when I got home, Carmen, Charlotte, and Siobhan waved goodbye to me, leaving me alone at my house with Carlisle. I opened the door with my key and we both walked in. Right away, Vera and Bree came running up to me at full speed while squealing and hugging my legs tightly. I struggled to walk until Carlisle picked up Vera. I picked up Bree, and we both sat on the couch, sitting the girls in our laps.

"Hi, Esme, hi Carlisle!" they said in unison. Twins were funny that way. They also thought it was clever to confuse everyone. They were identical, with curly brown hair and green eyes, a miniature version of me. The only way you could tell them apart is when they played or how they talked. Vera was more calm, like me and my mom, while Bree was a wild little girl, like Edward. There were times when they pretended to be each other, but they also had different birthmarks. Bree had one on her leg while Vera had one on her arm. We used to use wristbands with their names on them when they were babies and couldn't talk to express themselves. They were still grinning up at us.

"I know I am holding Vera," he said, poking her little nose while she giggled.

"And I am holding Bree," I confirmed as I looked at her leg and saw the mark. "You better not be tricking us, you silly little girls!" I tickled Bree and then Carlisle copied me with Vera, and they were both dying of laughing fits.

"I am so glad to be out of school!" Carlisle said, and I sighed dramatically.

"I know, so am I! So many big things are happening, such as our joint sweet 16 party on July 8th, Renee's pool party just after her baby is born, and my new babysitting job! I mean, I've babysat before, but this is a new customer,"

"Are you nervous?"

I shrugged. "Just a little. I'm shy around people I've never met, but I'm sure I'll adjust to this new family,"

"I can tell you'll do great," Carlisle assured me. "Rosalie's probably not that much different than the other kids her age who we both are familiar with,"

"I'm not worried about Rosalie. I warm up to kids easily. I'm talking about like impressing the parents. I've never met Lily or Charles before. I mean, what if they're rich snobs? What if they hurt Rose? What if-"

"You'll be fine, Esme," Carlisle put a hand on my shoulder. "Just be yourself,"

"Thank you," I smiled at him.

"No problem," He patted the hand that was on my knee and squeezed it a little. I tried not to show how much I liked that little touch.

"Hi, guys!" my mom called to us. My stepdad followed her through the door. They had just gotten home from work. My sisters and brother walked from the nursery school to my house with their teacher's help, just before me and Carlisle got home from school.

"Hey, Mom, hey, Dad," I greeted them, standing up and letting Bree run loose, which made Vera jump out of Carlisle's lap as well. I called my stepfather 'Dad' because he was more of a dad than my birth father had ever been.

"Hi, Anne and Eric," Carlisle said after me. He used to call them Mr. and Mrs. Platt, but they insisted that my friends could call them by their first names. I hugged my parents and asked if they needed any help, but they didn't and said that I could hang out with Carlisle until it was time for my job. Carlisle's dad, who was a religious freak, called him just then and he groaned, knowing he had to go to church and leave me. He hated church, but his dad made him go.

"Say hi to Jas for me," I said while he gave me a warm hug.

"I will. Bye, little rascals," he said, ruffling my sisters' hair. "Bye, you guys," he waved at my parents and walked out the door.

"Where's Edward?" Mom asked.

"Holed up in his room, probably," I mumbled.

"Come on, Annie," Dad was saying as they walked up the stairs. I followed them and started getting ready for my job. I curled my hair a little more so it would have bounce. I put on a pair of white pants and a purple blouse. I wanted to look pretty, responsible and neat looking, but not sexy. I also touched up my makeup so they would know I cared about my looks. When it was time for me to go, I yelled for my mom because I couldn't find her. I heard moaning outside their bedroom door and I knocked, not wanting to see free porn.

"Hey, Mom, you ready to take me?"

"Sorry, honey," she apologized. There was some rustling as she got herself dressed and she walked out the door while saying to Dad, "You get the kids for a while, I'll be back,". He responded with, "Have fun!"

"Thanks, Dad!" I shouted as I ran down the stairs, pulling my mom with me.

"Darling, you move too fast for these old legs," she chuckled as we strode out the door

"Mom, you're thirty-five, that's not old,"

"Thank you, baby," She tousled my hair and then we got into her car. "Now, where is this place again?"

"Lily told me it's on our street but more in the back, down the alleyway," I directed her to the house as we coasted down our street. "Down there," I pointed to a distant house with trees surrounding it. It was a little darker in this area, but it was still light outside. The trees were blocking the sun, that was all. She drove closer, and I saw that the house was white with green shutters and a black door. They also had a stone porch all around the house.

"You gonna be okay?" she asked, still holding my hand while I tried to open the car door.

"Yes, Mom, I'll be fine," I kissed her cheek and she kissed my forehead.

"Call me if you need anything," she said as I was getting out of the car.

"I will, don't worry," I promised her.

"Have a great time, sweetie," She pulled out of the driveway as I waved goodbye and thanked her.

I cautiously walked up the steps and went to knock at the door. I took a deep breath while looking behind me. My mom was gone. I would be with strangers now. There's nothing to be afraid of, I reminded myself, and continued to knock on the door a few times. I rang the doorbell, and a tall dark haired man opened the door, dressed in a suit and tie. He was so big that it hurt to look up at him. He had bushy eyebrows and a mustache that raised when he smiled down at me. "You must be Esme!"

I nodded. "Yes, I'm Esme, uh...Esme Platt, Rosalie's babysitter?" I said it as a question.

"Oh, right. Lily, Rosalie, she's here!" he shouted. Wow, he was so loud.

A woman with blonde hair down to her chest who was just a few inches shorter than him appeared behind him. She had blue eyes and pale skin with a faint blush on her cheeks. She smiled widely and outstretched her hand. We shook hands. "I'm Ms. Hale, but please, call me Lily. You have to be Esme,"

"Hi, Lily. I am she," I grinned. "And where is Rosalie?"

"Rosie, Esme's here," Lily whispered to something behind her. A little blonde head peeked out from behind Lily's fancy black skirt. Rosalie showed me a gap-toothed smile and widened her blue eyes. She looked like a mini Lily. She was so adorable. I bent down to her level, and she looked away shyly.

"Hey, Rosalie, I'm Esme, I'm gonna take care of you when your parents are gone,"

Rosalie waved at me and put her little hand in mine.

"Oh, and Esme, my name is Charles Evenson," the man introduced himself. I wondered why Lily kept her maiden name. That was strange.

"Hello, Mr. Evenson," I said, bowing my head for some strange reason. He shook my hand.

"Esme, you may be shocked at hearing this, but I wasn't the one who knew about you. Charles actually saw you in a park helping a little kid who had fallen off the swings and he thought our daughter Rosalie would be in the best care with you," Lily beamed proudly and squeezed her husband's shoulder. He smiled fondly down at her and nodded. "It's true,"

"Oh, that's great, well, thanks you guys! Anything you need me to know?"

"Rosalie will have spaghetti, which is in the fridge, and if she's a good girl, she gets a treat for dessert. You make it, but she shows you where it is. Then, give her her bath, read her a bedtime story, and put her to bed at eight. We'll be home around ten, so we need you here until then," Lily instructed me.

"No problem. Have a blast, you two," I waved at them while they waved back. They got into their car and drove away. I was surprised that Rosalie didn't cry when her parents left. I guess she passed that stage where kids missed their parents when they were away.

Rosalie was twirling around in her pink princess tutu while giggling, and I made sure she didn't get any sauce on her outfit. We took a few pictures together and then I gave her a brownie sundae, my specialty. Oreo ice cream on top of a brownie, with whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles on top, and a banana and strawberry on the side for health reasons. Luckily, she loved bananas and strawberries.

"My mom taught me how to make this, and I'm passing it down to every kid I know. So, you like it?" I asked her as she started digging in.

"This is yummy! Thanks, Esme!"

"You're welcome, sweetheart," When she was finished, I helped her wash off the chocolate that was on her fingers and around her mouth. She had a nice bath and she loved the bubbles. I made sure she didn't splash me or the floor, and then I dried her off and let her get her princess pajamas on. She got out a book, Cinderella, and opened it to page one. I read the whole thing and she was almost fast asleep. I thought I had gotten her to fall asleep when she asked me to turn the night light on in a tired voice, so I did.

"Ready to sleep, honey?" I asked, smoothing back her hair. She snuggled into her covers and laid her head down on the pillow.

"I want to talk to you for a while. I'm a little shy, but now's the time. First of all, how old are you?"

"I'm fifteen, and I know you're seven," I said, poking her tummy as she giggled. "So, how's second grade?"

"I love everyone except this guy, Royce...he keeps pushing me in the sandbox and saying I got cooties cuz I'm a girl. I can play with boys!" She pouted.

"That's right. I suggest you throw sand at him,"

"No need. My friends always do. Everyone hates him, except these dumb girls. I have no idea why. I guess because they're older,"

"Well then, you know what? Those guys are just stupid. You can play with boys even though you're a girl who is much younger than they are, and how old are these kids, anyway?"

"They're in fifth grade. Emmett and Alice and Jasper don't like 'em. They're my best friends,"

"That's good, baby. Their older sister and brother probably taught them how to behave. The other kids have no class or respect for good girls like you,"

"Thanks," she said, closing her eyes.

"Anytime," I smiled down at her and kissed her forehead. I patted her cheek and left the room silently, closing the door. I watched TV until Lily and Charles came home.

"Shhh, she's sleeping," I whispered to them. "I loved her, it was wonderful to take care of her,"

"Thank you so much, Esme," Lily reached into her purse. "Here's a twenty," I took the money and got out my phone to call my mom for a ride home.

"I can walk you home," Charles offered. "It's only a few blocks away, but I don't want you going home in the dark,"

"Of course, thank you," I said. He looped his arm through mine as we walked down the steps. I thought it was a little weird, but he said he was just making sure I wouldn't fall. He let go, but kept his hand on my back as he guided me to my house, or rather, I led him there. The numbers on the houses were lit up.

"So, Esme, you're in high school, right?"

"Yeah,"

"I'm forty-two, by the way,"

"Oh, um, where do you work?" It was strange that he told me how old he was. Lily didn't even do that yet because I barely knew her. Maybe Charles was just one of those cool dads.

"The bank. I'm very busy at home and in my office at work,"

"I love your daughter. Thanks for walking me home. I guess I'll see you later," He squeezed my hand, and once again, I felt slightly uncomfortable with the contact.

"You're welcome, dear. See you around, Esme," he said, giving me a big smile as I walked into my house. It was warm inside, while the air outside was very cold. The shadows out there were creepy, and it felt as if someone were following me.

Why did he call me dear? I guess he was just really nice. Stop worrying, I told myself, he's just a caring father figure to everyone who isn't his daughter.

This summer would be quite a memorial one.

**So, what did you think? Good, bad, ugly, awesome...please read and review!**


	2. Church

Carlisle POV:

After my dad called, I went back to my house, which was a few minutes away from Esme's. I helped Dad get Jasper and Kate ready for church. We guys wore suits while Kate wore a yellow summer dress. My father had dark hair while the rest of us had light brown hair, almost blonde. We all had blue eyes. Jasper and Kate were both starting puberty. Jasper was going to be a tall boy, because he was almost as tall as me, though he was only nine. Kate, however, we had no idea how to help her with her girl problems. Our mom died just last year, so Kate had to turn to Esme's mom for help. After Mom passed away, Dad insisted on taking us to church every time it was held, not only on Sundays. He felt like it was necessary to pray so that our family and friends wouldn't have to suffer like Mom did. We missed her deeply, but I felt the most sorry for Kate, because she would never have that mother-daughter relationship after her teenage years. She was starting to get sick of her mom after she got the birds and the bees talk, and she barely spoke to her dad. I could only imagine how guilty she was when we all saw our mom in the hospital, slowly dying of that evil illness God cursed her with. That's why I hated going to church and God, because he took away the woman who cared for us all and loved our father to no end. Jasper was just beginning to understand what death was, and I was the one who took care of him and Kate when they cried. Our dad worked a lot, but I knew he loved us. Sometimes, though, he could be a real pain in the ass. Having a Jesus freak for a father wasn't the best thing in the world. In fact, we hated it. It was boring and pointless. On the flip side, maybe God punished us for not going to church before by sending my mom down to her grave, deep under the dirt.

I didn't know I was crying until I felt the tears on my cheeks. I brushed them away, not wanting to show weakness in front of my dad or my brother or sister. My dad was the one who fell apart the most, and I could totally understand. She was his soul mate, and only the presence of his children kept him living. For me, Esme Platt was the girl who kept me from killing myself. She kept me whole and we always shared our problems with each other. She was also the most beautiful girl who walked on the planet. She was a few inches shorter than me with caramel colored curls down to just below her shoulders and bright green eyes that sparkled. Her smile was forever, except when she talked about her birth father and when she comforted me when I cried about my mom, and she always had a light blush to her cheeks. She was confident around people she knew well, but very shy around strangers. She was friendly, warmed up to people easily and was sometimes too trusting, and that was the reason I often worried about her. She had no idea her dad was going to leave her and her mom just like that. She had also grown up very fast. Her body had developed fully when she was fourteen and she stood at five feet, four inches. I was two inches taller than her and still growing like a weed. I was afraid I would be too tall for her, but thankfully, my dad told me boys usually stop growing by the time they turn sixteen. That was good news.

She had the hottest body ever. I wasn't gonna lie. No matter how much she complained about being too small, I thought she was perfect. She had curves in all the right places and looked like a woman rather than a girl. Her charming personality won me over when we were seven, and to this day, I was still in love with her. I was way too afraid to admit it, though. What if she turned me down? She didn't seem to like any guys at the moment, but when girls threw themselves at me, I flirted with them to make her jealous. I had no idea if it was working or not. Her figure made her look about eighteen, so when she was a freshman and senior boys tried to ask her out, she got all nervous, but I was by her side to say she was only a young girl. She was so embarrassed that day and just rolled her eyes at me. I was only trying to keep her safe. I could tell she wanted to act the way she looked and become less shy, but that just wasn't her. She was my favorite girl and she kept me sane. I had no idea what to do without her. I don't know what she'd do if she didn't have me. Nobody knew I liked Esme more than a friend except for Jasper and Kate. I only told them because they were good at keeping secrets and also because Jasper had a crush on Alice, his classmate, and Kate had feelings for Garrett. Being with their friends made them feel better.

I knew everything about Esme, too. I knew she liked red roses because they were dark, seductive, and symbolized romance. I sometimes got her pink flowers for her birthday because it meant friendship, and it was another hint for her that I liked her. Her favorite fast food restaurant was Taco Bell, as was mine, and she liked to dress up every time there was an opportunity. She liked anime, dark romances, comedies, rom-coms, and supernatural films and books. Her favorite colors were black, red, neon pink, neon blue, neon green, and bright purple. She knew that I broke my arm when I was four falling off swings and that my favorite colors were red and blue. She knew my favorite movies were action films and she knew I loved my brother and sister, as did she.

I had tuned out the whole car ride with Jasper and Kate and my dad conversing, and it was only when Dad said, "Carlisle, we're ready to get out, let's go!" that I bolted out of my seat. No need to make my dad angry. When he was mad, we felt bad.

"Sorry, Dad," I muttered, stepping out of the car.

"It's okay, son. What were you thinking about?" he asked, patting me on the back.

"Just church," I lied. I didn't want him to know that I liked Esme because he might tell her mom and blow the secret.

I remembered a time when I told Esme and our ex friend Heidi that I wanted to kill myself but then I reconsidered it when I saw Esme's heart shaped face in my mind. Heidi, in a fit of jealousy, snapped, "Why don't you join her?" She was just mad that I liked Esme more than her, and Heidi made Esme feel bad about everything. She never failed to point out the fact that she had an excellent father who loved her and her mother, and Esme cried a little whenever she said that. Heidi started growing when she was eight and she was like a plastic barbie doll. I couldn't stand that bitch, but her mom and my dad were the best of friends! So we had to be nice to her when we went to church.

"Hi, Carlisle!" Heidi said in an overly giddy voice. I winced from her high pitch, and grumbled a "Hi," back to her. She was always too loud and fake, completely the opposite of Esme. We felt like putting a restraining order on her.

Our family sat down near the front pews. I sat between Jasper and Kate and we held hands as we said all the boring prayers. The sermon was really the only interesting part of it. Heidi's annoying mother, who looked creepily like her daughter, led the sermon and the whole service. She was just full of it, but I agreed with her sermon.

"There were many miracles when Jesus was around. He cured people from blindess, sickness, and punished the demons of this world. Do miracles still happen? Not in the sense that men are agencies of miracles as were Paul and Peter and Moses. That day has ceased, if we understand correctly the Bible. The need for miracles to authenticate the message of God has passed. But in another sense miracles still happen, as God's children, the Christians, call on him through prayer. If prayer means anything it means that God reaches down and helps accomplish the end that some devout Christian has presented to him in prayer. It may be someone who is ill and God causes something to happen so that that person may be well. Or it may be some event that ought not to happen and the Christian's prayer causes God to keep it from happening. We could not believe in prayer if we did not believe in supernatural power. God's power comes into our world when it fits into his eternal purpose and changes things. That is what a miracle we close this study I hope that you believe in miracles. We believe in the miracles recorded in the Bible, but most of all we believe in the God who works miracles. I hope that the result of our study will be a greater appreciation, a greater admiration and a greater love for the God who made us and who cares for us still,"

After the sermon, we got our communion and Dad got both the bread and wine. After a few songs and prayers, I looked down and saw that I had a huge boner. I prayed that Esme was safe at her job but then got a wet dream about her, like I had every night. I dreamed of worshipping her gorgeous body and making her mine. I wanted her to moan into my mouth and I wanted to lick her sweet juices. The straining in my pants wasn't helping my situation, so I put the bottom of my shirt on my boner to hide it. I'm lucky Dad didn't see it. Kate and Jasper giggled softly as we exited the doors of the church. They knew what was going on.

After a family dinner of pasta, we prayed for Mom and everyone else we knew and loved and then visited Mom's grave, a twenty minute drive from our house. Flowers from last time we came were still by the grave. Dad brought some purple flowers to lay beside the old ones, kissed his fingers, and laid them on the gravestone.

Elizabeth Cullen, 1976-2011. Loving wife, mother, and daughter to all. That's what it said in black letters on the gravestone. The four of us bent down and said our condolences. Dad put a bunch of flowers by her grave and I could hear Kate sobbing, saying she wished her mom was still here so she could apologize and have a mother-daughter relationship with her. Jasper told her all about his year in school and Alice. I was telling her about Esme and how much I loved her and wanted her in my arms right now.

That night, I thought of the miracles that could happen. Maybe Esme would confess her love for me first, if she even had any feelings for me. Maybe she wanted to marry me and be under or over me. Maybe we'd do it hard and fast and break the bed while we were at it.

I wondered when her babysitting job was over. I stared out the window while reading a book. I had no idea where the house was, but around ten, I saw her walking down the sidewalk with some man who was dressed in a suit and pants. That was nice of him to help her get home, but I had no idea who he was. She would need to tell me about him. Wait, that was stupid...of course he was Rosalie's father! He seemed alright, but he also was walking too close behind her. He was probably just being friendly and making sure she didn't get lost. For some reason, I wished her curtains weren't see through.

"Carlisle, do you think Alice likes me?" a voice rang out, and I turned to look at my little brother who was just a foot shorter than me.

"It's really hard to tell. Girls are so difficult sometimes. They have mood swings and say they don't like someone when they do, or they say they like someone when they don't...it's hard to decipher what a girl is really thinking. Have you ever thought about taking her someplace, man?"

"Dude, I'm only nine," His voice was turning a little deep as he spoke, and he had a faint mustache growing on his upper lip. He was almost ten, so that was normal.

"Well, you can still go to the movies with her or something, if you want,"

"I guess you're right. Thanks, bro," he said as we fist bumped.

"Anytime, little buddy," I messed up his hair and he started laughing.

"Carlisle, she won't leave that James guy. He's just graduated and she misses him a lot. She thought they were a couple, but James liked this chick, Victoria. I don't know how to make her feel better,"

"Let her cry on your shoulder,"

"James called her a bastard kid because her parents had her out of wedlock. Renee and Charlie married after she was born,"

"That is so rude. You could beat him up with your words, ever tried that?"

"I'm afraid he'll hurt me,"

"Don't worry about it. If he ever calls her that again, I'll help you get him,"

"Wow, thanks," I hugged my brother and gave him a noogie.

Kate joined us a little later. Being in a family of all guys now, she was becoming a tomboy. She started playing baseball on my Wii without even asking, so I had to give her a noogie. She also had a girly side, because she always put on makeup when she saw Garrett.

Jasper and Kate ran out of my room after an hour and I could finally call Esme so I could hear her beautiful voice. My dad was asleep so I had to talk very quietly. I dialed her number and she picked up on the first ring. I frowned when she answered, "Hello?" in a tired voice and yawned. She still sounded very pretty, but I was afraid I interrupted her sleep.

"Hey, Esme, did I wake you? I'm sorry?"

"No, it's okay, I went to bed almost an hour ago, but I couldn't sleep,"

"Are you reading?"

"I was, with the light turned on, but then I stopped and have tried to go to sleep for the past ten minutes or so. How was church?"

"Boring," I responded, and we both chuckled. "I ran into Heidi,"

"Ew. Did she get her germs on you?"

"Thank God she didn't touch me. She just hurt my eardrums when she yelled hi practically in my face,"

"Ugh, what a loser. Does she not get the picture that we're not her friends anymore?"

"I guess not. We also visited Mom. I gave Jasper advice on getting Alice to be his girlfriend,"

"How was it?"

"Visiting Mom was sad. Talking to Jasper made me feel better,"

"Aww, you had guy time," I could hear the grin in her voice.

"And how was your girl time with Rosalie?"

"I love her! She told me about this boy, Royce, who never lets her play in the sandbox. I mean, come on, kids can be so cruel. At least Jasper, Emmett, and Alice are like brothers and sister to her,"

"That's nice. Oh, Jasper said this guy James, who Alice thought she liked, left her for a girl named Victoria and called Alice a bastard child,"

"What an asshole. I guess he's another spoiled rich boy, like Royce,"

"I suppose he is. Oh, not to be a creepy stalker or anything, but who was that man walking with you? I saw you guys out my window,"

"Carlisle, are you jealous?" she asked in a teasing voice. "Rosalie's dad, Charles offered to walk me home. It was nothing but a kind gesture,"

"Course I'm not jealous, I was just curious," I snapped, pretending to be mad. "That was nice of him, but I noticed he was a little in your personal space,"

"No, it was fine, I promise. Thank you for looking out for me, but he was simply making sure I wouldn't fall over any uneven cracks in the sidewalk. That's all,"

"Okay, as long as you were safe,"

"I know he's a stranger, but he's very friendly,"

"I understand, Esme,"

"There was also this weird noise outside, and when I looked out my window to see what it was, I didn't see anything but a bunch of trees and shadows caused by the moon shining on the backyard,"

"When did you hear it?"

"While I was getting dressed for bed. I ran out of my room and told my mom, but she said I was probably just imagining things, and I agree. I can be weird, you know. And also, Bree and Vera were screaming about monsters under their beds. I think their imaginations have gotten to me now,"

"Are you sure it wasn't a peeping tom?" I joked, and she started laughing.

"Eeewwww, Carlisle, you can be so perverted! Who would climb up the side of my house and risk their life trying to see me in the nude? That's gross,"

"Alright, you got me. I was just kidding. It was probably an animal or something,"

"Yeah, most likely," she giggled. "Well, it was nice talking to you. I just feel more protected after our talk,"

"I am your big brother, after all," I pointed out.

"Even though I'm older than you," she said. I could imagine her smirk. She was sixteen already, but I wouldn't be sixteen until December. Her birthday was on Valentines Day and mine was on Christmas, but we had joint parties every year on July 8th.

"Oh, shut up about that," I groaned. "See you tomorrow," I got off first so she would want me more.

"Okay, good night," she murmured.

"Good night," I said and closed my phone.

**Please read and review! Thank you to reviewers TeamCarlisleandEsme8, cuddyannie, JUJU, k8lin713, RandomReader, that kiwi chick, and Just4Me! I would love reviews for each chapter! **


	3. Shadows

Esme POV:

I felt slightly better after my talk with Carlisle. After speaking with my best friend slash crush, I was able to roll over and drift off to sleep. I woke up the next morning at about ten and found myself with my hand inside my pants, and I remembered a very sexually explicit dream I had, starring Carlisle. I really hoped my moaning wasn't too loud. I quickly ate my breakfast of chocolate chip banana blueberry strawberry pancakes with whipped cream on top, and prepared myself for the day. I was going to take Kate out shopping for bras, tampons, and pads, and my mom was driving us over there.

"Ready to go, honey?" Mom asked, and I nodded excitedly.

"How was babysitting, your first night? I'm sorry I wasn't there to pick you up. Were you okay walking home by yourself? Next time, just call me,"

"I was fine. Rosalie's dad walked me home," I said simply so she wouldn't worry.

"That's good. He seems like a nice man,"

"Yeah. And my babysitting job went very well. Lily, Rosalie's mom, is also very nice, and Rosalie's adorable. I have so much fun with her,"

"Well, that's good, baby," She stroked my hair and then we got out of the car to pick up Kate. She ran out right away, and I looked for Carlisle, but he was probably still sleeping. He was so lazy sometimes, especially in the summer!

"Hey, Es!" she called out to me, and I gave her a big hug. I couldn't pick her up and swing her around in the air, because she was too big. I could only do that with kids Rosalie's size or smaller.

"Hi, Katie!" I squealed. I took her by the hand and we both skipped to the car. She was wearing a bright blue dress and I was wearing a bright pink one.

She had to wear a training bra and she was really embarrassed about getting pads and tampons, but I told her every girl had to go through this when they were around her age. That made her feel a little better. I asked her how her brother was doing, and she said he was great. I took her out for ice cream and we both shared a brownie sundae.

"Yummy! Thank you for taking me out, Esme," she said as she finished her last bite.

"It was no problem, darling," I always called girls younger than me that weren't in high school yet 'darling'. I couldn't help doing that. It was just a motherly instinct, and when I did that in front of Carlisle, he told me I'd be a great mother someday.

She smiled at me.

I got a phone call and answered my purple BlackBerry. The name on the screen was Carmen, and I opened my phone to answer her. "Hey,"

"Esme, the girls are all coming over a sleepover. Wanna go?"

"You're my best friend, besides Renee. I would love to!"

"Yay! I also invited Sue and Sarah, besides the regulars,"

"Oh, that's great! They make good additions to our group!"

"And I heard Renee is coming over just to hang out and then she'll go home at eleven. She doesn't want to sleep without Charlie. He's the only one who can make her feel better while she's nine months pregnant,"

"I understand. See you tonight!"

"Okay, bye!"

Later, my mom picked us up, dropped Kate off, and took me to Carmen's house for the slumber party. I already had my stuff packed and it was in the trunk. I was happy I could have some girl time. Angela was going to Renee's house to play with Bella, Alice, and Emmett. I was the first one there, besides Renee. Carmen opened the door and Renee waddled to her side. I hugged my friends tightly, being careful of the baby in Renee's belly. Carmen helped me with my bags as all three of us walked upstairs. I put my hand on Renee's stomach and felt the baby kick. We smiled.

"Cynthia is going wild. She's like 'I wanna come out! I wanna see the world!'" I said, and the girls laughed.

"That's right, girl. Okay, Charlotte, Siobhan, Sue, and Sarah better hurry up before it gets too dark for our walk to that pizza place!" Renee said. "Oh, and I also need some-"

Carmen interrupted her. "Pickles and ice cream?"

I burst out laughing, and Renee gave her a swat on the arm. "Shut up! Eeewww, I hate pickles! Even when I'm pregnant! But I would love ice cream right about now! And pudding...oh my god, another craving! Charlie buys me everything I want. I'm eating more than the kids! And sometimes I'm gross and throw up a lot,"

"But is it worth it?" I asked.

"Oh, yes. I love babies as much as you guys do," she said, beaming. She had a mother's glow to her face, and I doubt she regretted when she was first pregnant with Emmett when she started high school. She and Charlie were in love and wanted to show they were committed when they went into the big bad world of high school, and had Alice when she was fifteen, and Bella when she finished high school. She took online college courses during her pregnancy and while she had to take care of a then three year old Emmett, four year old Alice, and baby Bella. That was when we helped her out the most. We got into a pillow fight, whacking each other until we fell down giggling, and then it was six.

The doorbell rang, and we ran downstairs to see who it was. The remaining girls came in the doorway and we hugged all four of them.

"Be careful, Renee's starving and she might eat you," I joked as she pushed me to the side. I stuck my tongue out at her in playfulness. The girls cracked up at our antics. Everyone's hands were on her belly and we were all excited about the baby. She was due in a week and a little sore, so we had to be gentle with her. She insisted we didn't have to help her, but I held one of her arms and Carmen held the other one so she wouldn't fall over with her giant stomach. We linked arms with her as we left the house, and since four people could walk on the sidewalk in one line across, Charlotte was on my other side, and she linked arms with me. Siobhan, Sarah, and Sue walked behind us. They were talking about their little sisters and brothers. I thought it was cool we were all wearing rainbow colored dresses. Carmen was in purple, Renee wore blue, Siobhan dressed in green, Charlotte had yellow, Sue chose orange, and Sarah liked red. We had all gotten them at Forever 21, our favorite store in the entire world.

"God, I know I'm only sixteen, but I can't wait to get somethin' in this belly by Eleazar. Whoo, he is one fine man! Esme, you should be out looking around," Carmen encouraged me.

"Yeah, girl, try it! Every time some guy asks you out, you always say no!" Charlotte added.

I rolled my eyes. "No, thank you, girls. I'm still looking for the right one. I don't want to be heartbroken or grossed out after a date,"

The truth was I didn't want to go out with anyone but Carlisle. Of course I didn't tell them that since they were big gossipmongers.

"You and Carlisle would look cute together," Renee giggled.

"Yeah, you're the only single ones out of the whole group," Siobhan put in.

"Has he ever asked you out, though?" Sarah asked.

"Do you like him?" Sue questioned me.

"Guys!" I whined. "We're just friends. Best friends. A relationship would ruin the friendship if we ever broke up for any reason,"

My friends kept convincing me to try it, but I resisted. My eyes glanced to the side of the street and I saw the house I was at last night. "That's where I babysat last night," I said brightly, attempting to change the subject.

Thankfully, that caught their attention. "That house way back there? I can barely see it. It's so dark down there. I can just see an outline of a rooftop," Carmen said, squinting.

"It reminds me of a dark alley. The kids are always saying it's haunted. They're like, 'Rosalie Hale's house is haunted!' And sometimes, I see them ringing the doorbell of the house at random times during the day and running away, all the way back into our houses, screaming in fright," Renee told us. "Children can be so silly,"

"You've been down there?" I asked doubtfully.

"I've walked strollers down here during the daytime,"

"It's just weird. I mean, the little ones know Rosalie Hale, but they don't know her parents. I bet they've never even been inside the house. Esme, what's the house like? You were inside of it last night," Charlotte said.

"It's like a normal house. I mean, it's secluded, but nothing different than any of our houses. I don't hear anything weird or see anything strange...her parents are very kind people. Her mom's name is Lily and her dad's name is Charles,"

A motorcycle zoomed past us and down the street. We shrieked because it was so close that we almost fell from the speed of it. Renee clutched her stomach and took a few deep breaths. We whipped our heads to the right and saw that it had come from the house."Ay dios mio!" Carmen gasped.

"That must have been Charles. God, Esme, are you sure he's nice? He almost ran us over!" Siobhan said, shocked.

"Let's get outta here, girls!" Sue freaked, and we all ran to the pizza place.

"It must have been an accident. We shouldn't have been there," I said, panting as my feet thudded against the ground. My heart was beating as fast as a hummingbird's wings when we finally stopped in front of the door of Pizza My Heart. I swayed a little and looked back at Renee, who was jogging while holding onto her stomach.

"Are you okay, girl?" I called out to her.

"I'm fine," she said breathlessly. "He just gave me a scare,"

"It was a mistake. Don't worry about it. We should be more careful and not stand in front of a driveway like that,"

"Its a hell of a long driveway," Sarah mumbled. "Come on, guys," We walked into the place together and got a booth. Nobody had to pay because Carmen fanned a wad of ten dollar bills in our faces and announced, "Yo soy muy rica!" while rolling her 'r's. She was very rich indeed! We ordered a large pepperoni, sausage, and cheese pizza and Renee ate half of it. The rest of us ate two slices each. We ended up having to buy another large pizza with the same ingredients.

"You have to remember some things when you're hanging out with a pregnant woman," Renee teased us and we laughed while rolling our eyes. We got pasta and it was yummy with our pizza! Then, it was time to go back. It was starting to get dark and there were more shadows. I was glad there were seven of us. We could walk in pairs, but I was with Carmen and Renee, leading the way. Charlotte and Siobhan were behind us, and Sarah and Sue were at the end. We kept looking behind us to make sure everyone was together.

"Hi, girls," a man's voice said, and we all turned to face Charles, who was in sweats, I guessed, after his motorcycle ride.

"Hey," we said altogether nonchalantly. Nobody looked right at him. He was a stranger to them all except for me.

"How are you ladies doing?" He walked closer. "Esme, would you like to introduce me to your friends?"

"We're fine, Mr. Evenson,"

"Good to see you again, Esme. Please, tell me who your friends are. I would like to know so I can get them to babysit for my little girl,"

"Oh," I laughed nervously. "Um, Carmen, Renee, Charlotte, Siobhan, Sue, and Sarah," I pointed to them as I said their names and we kept going away from him.

"Thank you. Have a good night,"

"You're welcome," I mumbled, and we hurried down our street back to Carmen's house.

"That was creepy," Carmen commented.

"He's a grown man. Why would he be so insistent on meeting young girls like that?" Renee asked.

"He was trying to get us jobs for his daughter,"

"Yes, but he asked how we were doing. Why does he care?" Charlotte asked, grossed out. "Does he want to get to know us by getting closer?"

"Eeewwww!" the rest of the girls said laughing.

"Girls...he is a little weird," I agreed. "Maybe he just doesn't know how to not be strange while just trying to make neighbor friends,"

"But he should try to talk to our parents first, not us," Sarah pointed out.

"I know! There's a difference between being friendly and trying to get close," Sue said.

"You guys are right. We can just cross the street next time so we don't pass him," I said, to calm their nerves a little bit.

Everyone settled into their sleeping bags and they were on my side about that one. Charlie picked up Renee and we said goodbye to them and gave them hugs. While we were in our sleeping bags, we took crazy pictures and watched a sappy romantic film while eating ice cream and popcorn and then fell asleep.

During the next few nights after I babysat for Rosalie, I decided the girls were exactly right, and I wanted to stop walking home with him. I wanted my mom to pick me up or have Lily take me home. He would ask me all kinds of personal questions and I would never know how to answer them. Some weren't as bad as others, though. I knew I had to respond to him because he was an adult and it wasn't like he was doing anything illegal. He was just interrogating me with questions.

"What is your middle name?"

"Anne,"

"What are you listening to right now?"

"Umm, hip hop, pop, that kinda stuff,"

"You like dancing, Miss Esme?"

"Well, y-yeah,"

"I bet you're a really good dancer. What was the last thing you ate?"

"Pasta. My mom's special spaghetti,"

"You have to try my dinners. How about this sunny weather we're having, eh? Makes me wanna just jump in the pool!"

"Yeah, it's really hot out,"

"Let's have a pool party, eh?"

"Maybe. I'll have to ask my parents or arrange it with Rosalie and Lily,"

"Or you could arrange it with me, hm? I'll bring drinks and you can bring food. You ever get so drunk you don't remember the entire night?"

"I don't drink. I'm sorry, I'm under twenty-one,"

"So? You're underage, but whatever. I'm sure you could stomach a couple tequilas. That little belly looks like it could take anything," He patted my stomach, and I cringed. From then on, I looked down.

"I don't like the taste,"

"What's your favorite holiday?"

"Halloween and Christmas,"

"Favorite season?"

"Spring and summer,"

"Last movie you watched?"

"I barely remember,"

"What books are you reading?"

"I'm not sure yet,"

"What's your favorite movie?" I shrugged.

"What's your favorite college football team?"

"I don't know,"

"Do you have any pets?"

"No,"

I have a Doberman guarding the forbidden room in our house, but nobody knows about it, not even Lily or Rose. I could show you it sometime,"

"No, thank you. I want to respect your privacy,"

"Favorite flower?"

"A red rose,"

"Have you ever fired a gun?"

"I don't like hurting anyone or anything and I'm afraid of guns,"

"Do you like to travel by plane?"

"Yes,"

"Right-handed or left-handed?"

"Right,"

"If you could go to any place right now where would you go?"

"I want to go home!"

"Do you have a tattoo?"

"Not a real one. They hurt, I've heard,"

"I've got lots of 'em. I'll show 'em to ya at the pool party. Do you still watch cartoons on Saturday mornings?"

"No, just with my little sisters and brothers. Does Rosalie?"

"Yeah, she does. What makes you unique?"

"I'm younger than all my friends?" I had no idea what he meant by that.

"Stuck on a deserted island and could take one thing?"

"I don't want to think about that,"

"Are you afraid of the dark?"

"Just if I'm alone,"

"Favorite hangout?"

"I would say the mall, or a friend's house,"

"Three things you can't live without?"

"Friends, family, and my babysitting job,"

"Favorite song?"

"Lots of them by Katy Perry, Rihanna, Kesha, and Taylor Swift,"

"What are you afraid of?"

"Being abandoned and forgotten forever,"

"Are you a giver or taker?"

"Giver,"

"Favorite TV commercial?"

"Baby ones,"

"First thing you'll save in a fire?"

"I guess my valuable items because my parents will save my siblings,"

"Whats your favorite color?"

"Purple,"

"What are the things you always take with you?"

"Camera and phone in my purse,"

"What do you wanna be when you grow up?"

"Maybe a writer or a helper in a special day class? I'm not sure,"

"What do you do when the clock hits 11:11?"

"I don't know...nothing?"

"Who would you like to see right now?"

"My family and friends,"

He had to stop asking me things because we were now at my house.

"Goodbye, Esme. I love the way your hair shines in the moonlight and your eyes look fresh and young, I love that color green,"

"Um, thanks?" I said as I watched his retreating back and rang the doorbell. My mom opened it, and I rushed into the house, very happy to be home now.

I decided to sleep in my sisters' room, in my brother's bed. Edward complained that he had to use my pink bed, but I shut him up with a noogie and a kiss to the forehead, and tickled him until he ran out of breath from laughing so hard. I went to sleep after kissing Bree and Vera good night. There was one interruption when Edward screamed, "Mommy! Daddy! There was a scary noise and a shadow out the window! There's a monster in my closet! He's out there now!"

"Kids," I sighed and went to sleep, trying to block his crying noises with my pillow.

**Please read and review! Thank you to reviewers TeamCarlisleandEsme8, Just4Me, JUJU, LaurenFacinelli, k8lin713, cuddyannie, and that kiwi chick! Yay! Seven reviews per chapter keep it up!**


	4. Haunted House

Carlisle POV:

Esme was having girl time with Kate for part of the day and then she was going to have girl time with Carmen, so I left her alone until she called me. I didn't want to be the obsessed moron who always called his girl friend to check up on her. She would think I was weird for doing that. When Kate was gone doing girl stuff with Esme, after breakfast, Jasper and I got on our track pants and long t-shirts and played one-on-one with our basketball hoop and an old ball that still had enough air in it. Sometimes, I let him win because he was smaller than me, and sometimes, he let me get lucky. I wanted Esme to let me get lucky...most of the time, I was helping him practice his basketball skills. He wanted to impress Alice by throwing the ball in the hoop over his head backwards, because James could do that easily. He also wanted to make a shot one-handed and I told him, "Little buddy, there's no chance that ball is gonna go right in every time, no matter how good you are,"

"Carlisle, I wanna beat him," he pouted.

"She's only eight years old, man. She doesn't care about sports. All she likes is Barbies,"

"Yeah, but she's gonna want a real man when we get to middle school. Come on, I only got three years to practice,"

"You are a real man-a real boy," I corrected myself. "You're true to yourself and you never give up,"

We played for a good thirty minutes until Dad finally rolled out of bed and said it was time for lunch. After the soup and sandwiches we had, we shot some more hoops and then, Jasper threw the ball so hard against the backboard and thought it would go in when I told him, "Aim for the square," and the ball bounced into the street and then back up onto the sidewalk. We chased after it until we finally came to a long, narrow sidewalk. It disappeared from our sight.

"Hey, give us our ball back!" Jasper shouted.

A little blonde girl wearing a pink dress emerged from the trees. She was holding our ball and she gave it to Jasper.

"Thanks, Rosie," he said, smiling.

"No problem. Who's this guy, Jazz?"

"My brother, Carlisle,"

"I'm Esme's best friend. Nice to meet you,"

She shook my hand. "Nice to meet you too,"

"Rosalie! Get back inside this house! What did I tell you about talking to strangers?" a man's voice barked.

"Sorry, Daddy! Bye, guys, I gotta go," She rushed out of our view, and we went back to our house.

"Carlisle, that house is haunted! Somebody died there. That's what Alice said. Actually, Emmett told us all that,"

"Does he know who died?"

"He says it's Rosie's daddy, and Charles is her stepfather. But that makes no sense, because she says her daddy died a long, long time ago in New York,"

"It's probably just a rumor. You know how Emmett is,"

"Well, the girls are really scared to go near there. Ali always crosses the street with her mommy when she's about to pass the house. Angie and Bella are even more afraid than Ali is. One time, Ali insisted she wasn't scared when Emmett, Mike, Tyler, Eric, and I dared her to, and she went up there to ring the doorbell and ran away screaming because she saw the ghost! All the middle school kids, Kate, Garrett, Emily, Sam, Leah, Jacob, Seth, Kim, Jared, Paul, Rachel, Rebecca, Quil, and Embry, say that we're just being stupid kids, but it really is haunted! Eddie doesn't want Bella or Angie going near that house and after Ali ran away screaming, nobody wants to anymore,"

"Dude, how do you think Rosalie feels about you kids ringing her doorbell and running away? Do you think she wants to be known as the girl who lives in a haunted house?"

"We think she's cool and brave to be living in that house,"

"That's good, but it's rude to go up to a stranger's house and ring their doorbell, probably bothering them, and her parents are probably getting annoyed with it. Maybe that's why they don't go out,"

"But we need spies!" he groaned.

"Esme's been in the house. She can tell me if there's anything creepy about the place, okay?"

"Okay!" he agreed.

We continued playing until Kate came home with Esme. Kate joined us for a little while and Esme walked to Carmen's house with her sleepover stuff. I really liked the way she walked with her little ass going side to side...

"Katie, we went to the haunted house! My ball went all the way down there and Rosie got it for me,"

"Ooooh, it sounds so scary," Kate said in a fake deep voice. "Little bro, you can be so weird. Rosalie's a nice girl. Leave that house alone. What's it done to you?" She ruffled his hair.

"Ali ran away screaming from it,"

"That's because you dorks made her go up there for twenty bucks which none of you has,"

"She saw a ghost!"

"Ghosts aren't real,"

"They are too! She saw a figure in the window and it was dark and he had a uniform on! Mr. Hale's ghost!"

"Shut up before I pummel you!" Kate and Jasper pretended to fight and then I had to separate them.

"Oh yeah? If you're so sure it's not haunted, why don't you go there and see for yourself?"

"No way! It's not nice. I don't wanna bother Rosalie,"

"You guys, cut it out," I said, rolling my eyes. "It's not haunted and it's rude to invade someone's property like that,"

"Katie's scared,"

"No, I'm not! God, I'm tired of this stupid baby stuff!" She stomped back into the house.

"I'm not a baby!" Jasper exclaimed, folding his arms across his chest.

"If you wanna be a big kid and impress Alice, convince your friends that it's not right to sneak into people's privacy,"

"I will,"

As the day wore on, the guys, Charlie, Eleazar, Peter, Liam, Billy, and Harry, came over to play some video games with me while Jasper played with their siblings, or in Charlie's case, kids. Kate was taking care of Maggie and Claire, the babies. We could hear Jasper and Emmett playing football and Angela, Alice, and Bella playing Barbies.

"I'll be the mommy. You be the babies," Alice was saying.

"But you're always the mommy!" Angela protested.

"She's older," Bella insisted.

"Alice, not so bossy!" Charlie yelled. "She's getting to be just like her mother,"

"How is Renee, by the way?" I asked.

"She's okay, but she's dying for this little girl to come out. I'm wondering if Cynthia will be girly like Alice, because Bella is a tomboy and sides with Emmett the most. Alice forces her to play Barbies and always fixes her hair. I've never seen Bells in a dress unless we're going to church or a wedding,"

"Our ladies are having a sleepover," Eleazar said, wiggling his eyebrows. "I wonder what Carmen's doing right now. Liam and Charlie, you guys are so lucky...I want to make a baby with my lovely Carmen,"

"You're still in high school," Peter reminded them. "I want to go all the way with Charlotte too, but we have to wait til we're out of college,"

"Dude, Charlie-boy got Renee a bun in the oven when she started freshman year! And Liam did it with Siobhan when they finished high school!" Billy said, and all the guys hooted and hollered.

"You're not getting any with Sarah," Harry teased Billy.

"You and Sue?"

"Damn, she'd have my head if I ever tried,"

"What about you, Carlisle? Who's the lucky lady gonna be?" Charlie asked.

"Oh, guys, I dunno..." I wanted to say Esme, but I was afraid they would tell their girlfriends or wives, and those girls would spill my secret to the girl of my desires.

"Come on, man, spit it out," Peter slapped me on the back.

"I'm not ready for a girlfriend. Shut up, boys,"

"All right, whatever. I can't believe your old man's not even here," Eleazar said, smiling.

"Man, he's working on religious freak stuff. Why, you wanna go someplace?"

"I can take us all out for Taco Bell!" Charlie announced, and all of us cheered.

"Kate, are you okay being home by yourself for a couple of hours? We boys are going to Taco Bell,"

"Dad's home working. Go have fun, bro,"

"Alright, watch the kids outside,"

"I will,"

We came outside and started getting in the car when we saw a motorcycle zoom by right where Emmett was trying to retrieve the ball. The wheels missed his fingers by inches.

"Emmett, watch out!" Jasper screamed.

"Ugh, stupid motorcycle!" Emmett whined, running back to the front yard. Charlie and I walked over to where the boys were tossing the football.

"You guys okay? Son, you are so lucky you didn't get hit by that damn thing. Go in the backyard now," Charlie tossed the football over the fence where my backyard was, grabbed Emmett by the shirt and dragged him into my house. I yanked Jasper by the arm and led him to the house and slammed the door after they told us they were fine.

"Kate, make sure the boys play in the backyard or in the house!" I shouted. "Emmett almost got ran over by a motorcycle!"

"Okay, Carlisle! Jasper! Emmett! Get over here now!" she growled.

"Crazy asshole, scaring my kid like that," Charlie grumbled as we got back in the car. "That would have been a story to tell Renee, especially with her being pregnant and hormonal. 'Oh, dear, by the way, Emmett's fingers broke off when he tried to save a football that fell in the street,' The screaming and sobbing would be too much," he shook his head and drove off. We each got three tacos with chicken, sour cream, rice, beans, and salsa, and they were so good! How I imagined Esme tasted. The guys all grunted in approval as everyone wolfed it down.

As we drove home, we saw the girls walking down the street, so Charlie slowed down.

"There's my Renee," he said as all the guys whispered their girlfriend or wife's name. I only thought of Esme's name in my head.

Suddenly, they stopped in front of the mysterious house. Rosalie's father was saying hello to them. Casually, I rolled down my window to hear what Esme was saying. I wanted to hear her lovely voice.

"We're fine, Mr. Evenson,"

That was it? He kept talking to them, so I listened harder.

"Oh, um, Carmen, Renee, Charlotte, Siobhan, Sue, and Sarah,"

That's when they ran away.

"Even they're afraid of the house? I thought only the kids were," Peter said, confused.

"They're not afraid of the house," Liam contradicted him.

"What are they running away from? Charles doesn't seem that scary," Eleazar told us.

"We'll have to ask them later. I mean, you know how women are...maybe they're on their PMS," said Billy.

"My wife definitely is," Charlie chuckled.

"Possibly they had to go to the bathroom," Harry said, making all of us roar with laughter.

"I doubt that was it. Let's ask the girls ourselves when we see them again," I suggested. All the guys agreed with me.

The next day, Sunday, was family day after boring old church. Dad took us out for pizza and asked us how we were doing. We said we were fine. It was awkward because the only way Dad connected to us was through church and really, nothing else. If he saw that Jasper was sneaking into someone's driveway, it would be sinful to him. If he heard Kate was dressing herself up for Garrett before she turned thirteen, he wouldn't let her out of the house. If he knew I was in love with Esme and having sexual fantasies about her, he would make me go to confession and cleanse myself of my "sins".

Even though Bella and Angela were younger than Alice, they were taller than her by a few inches. The three of them were playing jump rope near our house while we were getting ready to go bike riding on a trail in the woods. The girls sang as they swung the rope for Alice to jump over.

"Ali and Jazzy, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage, that's not all, that's not all, the baby in the baby carriage is playing basketball! How many babies will you have? One, two, three-"

"You made the song too long," Alice griped, tripping over the rope. "And how do you know if I like Jazzy? You don't even know if he likes me!"

"I do," Jasper whispered to me.

"She does like you, Jas," Kate said, grinning, and Jasper jumped up and down triumphantly. I fist bumped him.

"Well, I wouldn't sit in a tree! They're for boys! Climbing trees is for you, Bella,"

"Yeah, I wouldn't be caught dead in a tree either," Angela agreed.

"You wanna see me climb a tree? Come on!" The three of them ran past our house to Bella and Alice's house and we loaded our bikes in the back of my dad's truck. I sat next to my dad and the kids sat in the back. He turned on religious music and we resisted our groans.

Dad led the way on his bike through the woods, and Jasper went after him. Next was Kate, and I was in the rear to make sure nobody got lost. Jasper had just learned how to ride and Kate didn't ride very often, so I hoped they wouldn't trip.

"It's scary here, Dad. Too many trees, and bumps in the road,"

"Let God lead you, Katherine. He will make sure you're okay," He pedaled faster, and we followed after him. This was good exercise, and we did this for a few hours until we had to rest. We went back to the car and Dad got the picnic blanket out and laid out the food. I helped serve the kids with my father and we ate our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches happily.

After our bike ride, we returned home and had a family dinner. Esme must have been babysitting for Rosalie again because I saw Rosalie's father walk her home. Of course, before going to bed, we visited Mom's grave and in the morning, Dad offered to help me with my driving skills before I got my permit. Well, that was nice of him. He took me to a parking lot at our now closed high school and we switched seats. This was the first time I was actually getting to drive behind the wheel.

"Okay, Carlisle, put it in park and keep your foot off the gas and brake. Now put it in drive and ease slowly on the brake when I tell you to stop,"

I coasted until a certain point when he yelled, "Stop!"

Sometimes, he made me so nervous that I slammed on the brakes, but I never crashed into anything. All my turns were smooth and at the end of the day, he was sort of proud of me, something I wasn't expecting. He even let me use the gas and I loved the feel of driving for real. It wouldn't be long before I got my license since I was almost sixteen. I wanted to be able to drive like all my friends could, and I wanted to blow Esme away with a fancy vehicle and my mad driving abilities. I knew she would love me either way, though, but I wanted her to think I was cooler than every single guy at that school we went to.

"You're a pretty good driver, son," Dad complimented me.

"Thanks, Dad,"

I had a feeling Mom was watching over me and making sure I didn't get into an accident, even though Dad claimed it was God doing all the work.

When I got home, Jasper informed me that Edward saw shadows outside his window when Esme switched beds with him last night. The Swan girls teased the boys about it and said they were always being scared, but Kate said it meant the girls liked the boys when they teased them. Kate also told me that Alice came to our house and kissed Jasper when he was least expecting it, and Bella kissed Edward after seeing her big sister kiss a boy. It was the cutest thing ever.

"Oh, and Emmett wants to rescue Rosalie from the haunted house! Isn't that romantic?" Alice was asking Kate.

"Ali, it's not haunted, but that is very sweet of him," Kate said, trying not to laugh.

"I wanna see him do it! I wanna see him rescue her from the dragon! My brother's a knight in shining armor, and Rosie's the princess!"

"It's not polite," I said, overhearing their conversation and tousling Alice's hair. "Emmett's just a wild kid with a crazy imagination,"

"I swear, I saw something in there!" Alice insisted, her eyes wide.

Kate shook her head and led Alice inside the house, and I followed them.

They've been watching way too many scary movies.

**Read and review please! Thank you so much to reviewers LaurenFacinelli, TeamCarlisleandEsme8, that kiwi chick, Just4Me, cuddyannie, JUJU, and k8lin713!**


	5. Running

Esme POV:

"Look, I'm a princess!" Rosalie said cheerfully as she spun around in her blue Cinderella dress to Taylor Swift's 'Today was a Fairytale'. I giggled and twirled her all around the room.

"Yes, you are, sweetheart," I giggled along with her. When the song ended, we both fell back on her bed.

Rosalie's parents were gone for just an hour and I was told to watch her and simply play with her, so I did. They had gone to the bank so Lily just dressed in jeans and a white top and Charles dressed in a gray pair of sweatpants and a red Stanford sweatshirt, what he always wore when he didn't have his suit on. Did he have any other clothes? The doorbell rang and she ran downstairs to get it. She jumped in Lily's arms and I followed her. Lily and Charles greeted me happily. I smiled genuinely at Lily and pretended to smile at Charles. I knew my mom was busy taking care of Bree, Vera, and Edward, so I didn't want to make her or my dad take me home. I hugged Rosalie goodbye and kissed her on the forehead and then on both cheeks. She gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Ms. Hale, do you mind walking me home?" I stepped closer to Rosalie's mother.

"Not at all, Esme. By the way, you can call me Lily," She put Rosalie down and turned for the door, but Charles pulled her back.

"I'll take her," he said, running his hand through his curly black hair.

"She wants to go with me," she murmured. I stared down at my painted toes and bit my lip.

Charles glared at his wife and she stepped back a few feet. Lily smiled apologetically at me and mouthed, "Sorry," She took Rosalie by the hand and vanished out of the room. Well, at least I tried.

"Why do you always want to walk me home? Not to be rude, but I want to get to know Lily some more. I already know you pretty well," Not that I wanted to know him more than I knew Lily.

"Lily can't protect you from all the dangers in this neighborhood. What if there was a rapist prowling the streets? Or a murderer? I can't have both you girls getting killed. It would absolutely break my heart. Besides, Lily is terrified of the dark,"

"She could drive me," I mumbled.

"Are you kidding me? That woman can't drive to save her life! One time, she almost crashed us into a tree and got her license suspended and her car towed away! Our only vehicles are my motorcycle which she's terrified to go on, and our car which she says is a boring color. Now, I want to know some more things about you. How big is your bed?"

"It's a double,"

"Mine is a nice king. Perfect for a little family like ours. And what are the last 4 digits in your cellphone number?"

"Sorry, I don't give out any part of my number to a stranger,"

"But I'm not a stranger. We're just getting to know each other, honey. That's okay, though. You can tell me later. Who is the last person you hugged?"

"Rosalie,"

"I love that kid. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?"

"I guess my friends?"

"Friends? Who needs friends when ya got work? Well, a nice lady friend is pretty cool, but a young, shy girl like you should do the trick," He winked at me and I looked away.

"I'm not sure what you mean by that,"

"Well, little lady, you're my best friend now! No, you're more like my daughter! This is fun, the two of us walking home together...me protecting you from the scary monsters that are lurking the streets...kinda like how I frighten the monsters away under Rosalie's bed!"

"I'm not a child," I denied. "Plus, I have a best guy friend already. Sorry,"

"What is the first thing you notice in the opposite sex?"

"Their personality,"

"How's mine?" he asked excitedly.

"Conversational,"

"Do you want children?"

"Yes,"

"Aaah, children. Lovely little things, but they can be pests at times. I'm glad Lily only had one. Only one to save from danger. Have you ever cried over a boy?"

"Yes, but I'm not telling who,"

"You're private. You're making me work hard, girlie. I've cried over girls before. How about this one? Have you ever loved someone?"

"Yes, but again, I can't say who,"

"Damn, again with the secrecy! You know, I could let you in on a little confidential information. I love someone too...she's so attractive, but always unavailable. Don't you hate that?"

"Yeah...but Lily will be hurt when she finds out you love someone else and it's not her,"

"Just don't tell her, okay? Our little secret. Pinky promise," He held out his pinky and I was hesitant to touch him. "Oh, you_ are_ bashful. My bad, I forgot," I kept quiet as he took my hand and hooked his large pinky with my small one. "Ooh, nice little pointed nail. I like it,"

When he finally released my finger, I pulled my hand away from his and stuffed it in my pocket. "Can we just walk side by side?"

"Fine," he answered stiffly. "Are you missing someone?"

"Why are you asking me these questions?" I was getting frustrated now.

"Are you hiding something from someone?"

"Yes. You're ignoring me!"

"What is the wallpaper on your cell phone?"

"Me and my friends,"

"Look at my wallpaper," He stopped to get out his phone and open it. I would have ran home, had he not grabbed me by the wrist. I almost twisted my ankle in the attempt to get free. "Whoa, girl, I don't want you getting lost," I gasped at his strength as he gripped my arm while showing me some porn as his wallpaper.

"What if Lily sees that?" I asked, faking worry. I wanted her to see that he was cheating and looking at other women and then throw him out on his ass!

"Sweetie, don't worry about Lily seeing anything. She's never taken my phone. She trusts me completely," He smiled slyly at me and asked something else nosy while letting go of my forearm. It was still aching because he had it in a vise hold.

"Did you get enough sleep last night?"

"Yes,"

"I got plenty of rest. First thing you thought about this morning?"

"It was a bright and sunny day,"

"What do you have handy at your bedside?"

"My phone,"

"Necessary if your boss calls,"

"Yep,"

"What are your nicknames?"

"I don't really have any. Kids call me 'May' when they can't pronounce my full name, or Es,"

"Everybody calls me Charles. No ifs, ands, or buts about it,"

"Oh," I thought by giving boring responses he would give up, but he kept talking.

"What is your dad's middle name?" I shrugged.

"Your mom's?" Again, I shrugged.

"The color of your bedsheet?"

"Pink,"

"Mine is gray and orange. I picked out the colors,"

"Hm,"

"What do you think about before you go to bed?"

"Nothing. I'm going to sleep,"

"I think about women's hot bodies and then jack off,"

The questions went on and on, but then he asked the most shudder-worthy one of them all. Actually, not asked, he told me this.

"You look much prettier than you did yesterday. I mean, you're kinda cute. High school boys should be throwing themselves at ya,"

I looked down and covered my small cleavage with my light sweatshirt.

"Thank you. I have to get home," I said quickly and ran all the way to my house, never looking back or stopping to catch my breath. In my haste to get away, I tripped over a stick in the sidewalk and skinned my knee. Charles rushed after me and tried to help me up, but shrieked and kicked him away with my good leg and continued scrambling to my house, even though I had a sore leg from the wound. I rapidly knocked on the door and my mom opened it. I fell into her arms and she hugged me tightly. "Oh, Esme, are you alright? You're bleeding!" Being in her arms brought me a certain warmth, the complete opposite of the freezing weather outside.

"I fell down," I had a huge lump in my throat and my voice was shaking, but I wouldn't cry in front of her. I hated crying in front of people.

She took me to the kitchen, washed my knee, and put a bandaid over it. It felt a little better. I limped up the stairs, thinking of how exactly I got my scrape. The fact that he thought I was pretty or cute was a little gross. Even if he meant it in a young girl way. But it wasn't something to tell anyone about because it wasn't illegal. I just hoped he would never talk like that to me again. In fact, I never wanted to be near Charles again.

I needed my friends and family and...Carlisle. He had been busy on Sunday because of family day, and Monday, he practiced driving with his dad. We talked a little bit on the phone each night, but it wasn't the same as seeing him and being in his arms for a few seconds.

I really missed him, I realized, as I lay in bed crying. I took out my phone and decided to call him after wiping my eyes and blowing my nose a few times.

"Esme?" he answered. "You rang?"

"Yes, Carlisle, I needed to talk to someone...I'm upset," I sniffled.

"What happened?" he asked softly. The kindness of his voice made me want to cry harder, but I tried to muffle my sobs with my pillow.

"Nothing, I'm just a little lonely,"

"What are you thinking about? I wish I could be there with you to comfort you, but my dad won't let any of us out past eleven,"

"Just my birth father. He did a lot of stuff that made me mad. He always puts himself first before me, he spoils my step mom a lot more then with me, he does not contact me at all only at rare occasions and he got a Facebook and added me as a friend just to stalk me but I now block him from my status updates for revenge and when I visited him a long time ago he told me that he only got a Facebook account just for work purposes and there's not going to be any personal info about him. But when I went on his profile he put on his relationship status to married with my step mom but he never added me as his daughter. And when I was a little kid when I visited my dad and step mom, my mom would verbally abuse me and my dad won't do anything, in fact he agrees with my step mom a lot. So now I don't contact him very much and I have not seen him since his birthday and that was in March," I blubbered. It was true, but Charles was the one I was more annoyed with. He couldn't seem to leave me alone! At least my dad knew I didn't like him. It was smart of him to stay the hell away from me.

"Oh, Esme," he whispered. "He's a bastard,"

"Yeah I know. So like on his birthday and on Fathers Day, I have to pretend to be happy and call him or something. Oh another thing he did was he stopped paying for my child support after I graduate high school and he won't help me with gas money. He had his own mother do that for him, and she's fighting cancer! And he claims he's struggling for money but he goes on trips and buys stuff for himself! WTF? When I get married, I want my step dad to walk me down the aisle since he's been a true dad, but since that's going to cause drama I'm going to walk down the ally by myself because my dad dose not deserve to walk me down the aisle. Oh also my dad was a huge jerk to my mom too," I remembered all the fighting at my house that took place. It was horrible. "Thank you for listening to me rant,"

"No problem. I'm sorry you had to go through that. At least you have a much better stepfather,"

"Yeah. So what's been up with you so far? How was family day?"

"We went bike riding in the woods and had a picnic and today, Dad said I did pretty good on driving, but he did make me nervous sometimes,"

"Oh, okay. That sounds fun, except for your dad making you nervous. What did you do on Saturday while I was out with the girls?"

"I was out with my boys. They want me to get a girlfriend,"

Pick me! I'm right here! "My girls want me to get a boyfriend," I laughed. Just ask me out right now and they'll stop pestering me!

"It's so funny we're both the youngest and single people out of our whole group. Even the kids are pairing up,"

"Yeah? Like who?"

"Jasper and Alice, Bella and Edward, Kate and Garrett, Emily and Sam, Jacob and Leah, Seth and Angela, Quil and Claire, who are Emily and Sam's little siblings, Rachel and Paul, Kim and Jared..."

"Oh my God! All those kids? Even the babies?" I was shocked.

"Yep,"

"They've gotten more lip action than us?"

"Thanks for pointing that out,"

"Oh, this is embarrassing," I giggled.

"I know, right? They're all saying the house you babysit at is haunted,"

"Oh, kids these days. But there's nothing that shows that the house is haunted. It's just a house. I remember when I used to take Bree and Vera on their tricycles past that house and nothing bad or strange happened. If you want me to investigate further, I can,"

"Yeah, look for any forbidden rooms, see if you feel chilly winds when it's not even cold out, or noises in the trees when there's nobody home but you and Rose,"

"Oh, there is a forbidden room! I have no idea what's in there, but Charles told me there's a Doberman dog who sleeps there or something. It's guarding the door so nobody can come in,"

"I better not tell the kids. They'll dare you to go inside,"

"Oh, no, I'm not brave enough to defeat that dog. I think Charles feeds it and takes it for walks in some other part of the neighborhood where we've never seen before. Just that part seems really weird,"

"Some stupid guy on a Harley almost ran over Emmett's fingers. Please don't tell Renee. We don't want her to worry," I gasped.

"Oh my God! Where did he come from?"

"We don't know, but the boys aren't allowed to play near the street any longer,"

"That's good. A motorcycle almost ran over us as we were walking to the pizza place. It was Charles, coming from the house. The girls were scared, but we really shouldn't have gone near there. We're crossing the street next time,"

"That's a good idea. That guy needs to be more careful if he wants to go for a ride, then," Carlisle decided.

"I agree. But I'm keeping this babysitting job even though Charles seems weird. He's not doing anything wrong, just idiotic,"

"I know. I hope you're feeling better, Esme," I loved the way my name flowed so beautifully out of his lips. "And please, be safe. I don't want you near Charles or his motorcycle. He obviously has no control over that thing,"

"Thank you for your concerns. I am," I answered, nodding. I also knew it was time for me to go to bed. "So good night-" I stopped in my tracks when I heard a growl outside the window. I gasped, put my hand over my heart in fear, and looked outside. Nothing was there. I had to stop being so jumpy all the time! "Sorry, I just got scared. Something was outside my window and it growled-did you hear that?"

He listened closely. "It might just be an animal, or maybe Charles walks his dog at this time of night in the back of all the houses,"

"You could be right," I said, shrugging. "Anyway, good night,"

"Night,"

I closed my phone and tried to go to sleep, but there was too many noises like owls hooting, crickets chirping, the wind howling, and the moon was making the trees light up. I turned over and pulled the sheet over my head. It got hot later on, so I shoved it off and breathed in and out deeply and closed my eyes.

**Please read and review! Thank you to reviewers TeamCarlisleandEsme8, cuddyannie, JUJU, k8lin713, LaurenFacinelli, that kiwi chick, and Just4Me! I would love reviews for each chapter! Oh, and I just saw the Breaking Dawn Trailer...SQUEEEEEE HAVING A FANGIRL MOMENT ^_^**


	6. Day at the Park

Carlisle POV:

I wish I was there to hold Esme when she got scared, but I decided to call her up and invite her to hang out with me for a picnic at the park.

"Hi, Carlisle," she answered after a few rings.

"Hey, Esme, are you busy today?"

"No babysitting today, if that's what you mean. Rosalie's parents are staying home, or maybe they're all going out,"

"Okay, great! I was just wondering if you wanted to go on a picnic with me,"

"Of course, I would love to! Should I bring anything? I could bring my mom's famous apple pie, but make it a personal one,"

"Yes, please bring that. I'll cook some fried potato tacos for us,"

"Yay! You make those so tasty!" she cheered. "Well, I'll get to making the pie,"

"Okay, see you soon,"

As soon as I got off the phone, I got dressed in a dark blue shirt and black shorts. I started peeling and mashing the potatoes and then I got out the flour tortillas. Then, I stuffed them with potatoes and fried them in the pan. An hour later, Esme texted me that she was ready with the pie, and I grabbed my phone and the food and almost ran to her house. I knocked on the door and she opened it with the small pie in her other hand. It looked and smelled delicious. Esme was wearing a purple sleeveless sundress, and it looked beautiful on her. The only flaw was a Band Aid on her knee, and I would have to ask her where she got that.

"Bye, honey, have fun with Carlisle," her mom said, kissing the top of her head while patting her cheek and walking away. Esme smiled and walked out the door to give me a one-armed hug.

"We better hurry so this food doesn't get cold," I said, hugging her back tightly.

We rode our bikes quickly to the park as we talked.

"How are you?" I asked her.

"I'm great, and you?"

"Just fine. Have you taken Rosalie here before?"

"No, they never ask me to take her to the park. I just play with her inside the house,"

"She's never been out by herself to play with the other kids in the neighborhood?"

"Just in school, yes, but otherwise, no,"

"Well, Jasper accidentally lost his ball somewhere near her house, and Rosalie came out to get it for him. Her father yelled at her to come inside, so maybe she's not allowed out for some reason without her parents. Her dad doesn't want her talking to strangers, but Jasper's not a stranger to her. I am, but I won't do anything bad to her,"

"I understand, but maybe she's had a horrible experience with a stranger and her parents, especially her overprotective father, don't want anything else to happen to her. I mean, they love their daughter very much, I can see that,"

"She's well taken care of, is that what you're saying?"

"Yeah. She's a spunky little girl, one of my favorites. You'd love her. I'll take her out to meet everybody tomorrow, because her parents are going somewhere, but I forgot where,"

"Speaking of her parents...is that them?" I asked, nodding my head towards a couple with a small girl with blonde hair who looked very much like Rosalie.

Esme squinted and followed my gaze off in the distance. "Yes, that's them. Let's people watch while we eat these goodies," She reached over and took a potato taco, as did I. We ate them in silence as we saw the blonde woman lift the little one high in the air while she giggled and then set her back down. The dark haired man ran after them slowly and then caught both of them in his arms as they laughed. They looked like a perfect family. His wife ran over to the swings and put their daughter in one of the seats. They both took turns pushing their only daughter. Soon, the man got bored and sat down on one of the benches, and it was just the woman and her little girl playing happily on the swings. Later, they got tired and joined the father. The mother sat the girl in her lap as she snuggled into her husband. Someone should have taken their picture.

"That family looks so well put together...they remind me of how things should be...a great mom and dad and a happy and healthy kid. Not some parent dying or another parent being a complete loser to one of their brilliant children, or the parents fighting and getting a divorce..."

Esme looked at me as I spoke. "But you love your dad and your siblings, and I love my mom and Eric and my little sisters and brother,"

"That's true, but I wish Mom was alive and your father wasn't such a jerk,"

"I know what you're saying. Let's watch other people,"

There were some kids playing all kinds of sports like soccer, basketball, tennis, and some were playing tag. The men who directed these games were probably the dads of one of the kids, and their wives laid on their backs or stomachs to get a tan or soak up the summer sun. A few couples were walking around holding hands or kissing madly like there was no tomorrow. We were in the shade since it was so hot, but not hot enough to swim. We finished the apple pie within seconds and sighed with delight.

"This lunch was so good and unhealthy," Esme said with a laugh.

"I agree with you. Aaah," I let out a deep breath as I laid down.

She was still sitting up with her arms around her knees. She still had her head turned to the playground, and I lifted my head so I could see what she was looking at. The couple was now pushing their child down the slide and she was playing on the monkey bars and the jungle gym as well.

"Do you want to do that?" I asked, closing my eyes. The heat was making me tired.

She abruptly looked down at me. "No, it's okay. You look exhausted," I soon felt her prescence right next to me, so I opened my eyes and saw her hair flowing in the wind and her dress billowing off her legs a bit and the hem landed on her thighs. She stretched and pushed her body upwards and then back down, making her cleavage bigger as she did so. My boner was straining against my shorts, and I was glad my shirt was long enough to cover it up.

"It's nice laying here with my best friend in the entire world," I said and then yawned.

"Wanna watch the clouds?" she asked me lazily.

"Sure," I looked up and saw a bunch of clouds merged together. "That looks like a bunny,"

"I know," she giggled. "Oh, and look at that one," She pointed up at the sky and I followed her finger to a large cloud that was shaped like a lion. "That's two faces of an old man,"

"Really? I thought it was a lion,"

"No," Esme laughed. "It's an optical illusion, but don't you see the two faces of the old man? One is nice and pure and one is mean and evil,"

"Oh yeah," I realized aloud. "Now that one's a flower with a very long stem,"

"You're so observant," She traced it in the air where we saw it, and I chuckled.

A yellow butterfly with tiny blue, green, purple, and pink spots was fluttering a little above me and I tried to catch it, but it fluttered towards Esme's chest, and landed on her cheek.

"Something's tickling me," she chortled.

"It's a butterfly on your cheek,"

"Oh, really?"

"Yes," I reached over and brushed it off slightly, running my hands over her smooth skin on the side of her face. It made her blush, so I took my hand off her cheek immediately.

"Thank you,"

"What happened to your knee?"

"Oh, I fell down, is all,"

"Are you okay now?"

"Yeah, I'm fine,"

"And I guess you fell on your arm too," I gestured to the reddish-purpleish bruise on her forearm, and she nodded while shrugging.

"Shit happens,"

I plucked a flower that was growing near us and placed it into her hair, right behind her ear. She smiled as I did so.

"It's a yellow sunflower, I hope you like it,"

"I love it. Thank you, Carlisle. That's one of the reasons I picked you to be my best friend, because you're so sweet to me,"

"Well, you're very welcome. Permission to tickle your feet?" I asked, sitting up and wiggling my fingers, making her shrink back. She kicked her feet so her flip flops came off, and shrieked, "No, no!" but I didn't listen. She was lucky I wasn't touching her most ticklish spot, her armpits or her sides. She laughed and rolled from side to side as I tickled her until she gasped out, "Stop, please,". I noticed she was giggling so hard she was almost crying, and her underpants were almost showing. I waited for her to catch her breath and wipe her eyes. She sat up with her legs wide open, but I didn't sneak a peek because that would be rude. Instead, I lifted the bottom of her dress and put it over her knees. Someone cleared their throat, and we both turned to face a dark haired guy with an orange wifebeater and gray shorts.

"Esme, I _thought_ I recognized you! Who's this young man here with you? Your boyfriend?"

"Oh, no, sir. Mr. Evenson, this is Carlisle, my best friend, and Carlisle, this is Rosalie's father, Mr. Evenson," She folded her hands in her lap and let her hair cascade down her shoulders.

"You can call me Charles, buddy," The man leaned down next to me and shook my hand firmly. "I'm just here with my lovely wife and beautiful daughter. You know, Esme babysits her," He left his squatting position and sat right down next to us. "Warm day, isn't it?"

"Yes, the weather is gorgeous. Barely no clouds in the sky and it's clear blue...but we just sat in the shade to avoid the sunshine getting in our eyes. How's your family day, man?"

"You saw that, huh? I just wanted to take my kid and wife out and give Esme here a break,"

"Oh, no, I love taking care of Rosalie," Esme said in a soft voice.

"That's wonderful!" Charles crowed. "Here comes my wife and daughter,"

The blonde woman and her little girl were holding hands as they ran towards us. "Hi, Esme!" Mrs. Evenson said, waving. Rosalie copied her.

"Hi, Lily," Esme said, smiling. "Hey, Rosie!" Rosalie jumped into Esme's lap and hugged her. Esme leaned back on her elbows and started tickling Rosalie. Rosalie's giggles filled the air.

"You must be Mrs. Evenson," I said as Lily bent down next to her husband.

A look of confusion crossed her face. "It's actually Ms. Hale, but you can call me Lily,"

"Oh, sorry. Lily, I'm Carlisle, Esme's best friend," I introduced myself.

"Nice to meet you," she said, shaking my hand.

"You too,"

"Hello, Carlisle," Rosalie said, leaning back on Esme's lap and the grass.

"Hi, Rosalie,"

She hid her face, but Esme sat her up to face me. "He's nice, Rose. He won't hurt you,"

"Are you two gonna kiss?"

We both blushed and laughed uncomfortably. "No, we're just best friends," I said quickly.

"All right. Well, come on, Charles," Lily said, pulling him up to his feet. Rosalie scampered to Lily and grabbed her hand.

"Bye bye!" Rosalie shouted, skipping away, trying to get her parents to skip as well.

"Bye, you guys," Esme said, waving, as did I.

"Well, that was nice that they came to see us, even though we were spying on them," I commented and Esme laughed.

"It was. Hopefully they didn't notice. I can't believe they thought we were a couple!"

"I know," Oh, how much I wished it were true! For once, I wanted people's assumptions about us being together to be right!

"I didn't know Heidi went to the park with her mommy," Esme muttered, sitting up. Sure enough, I witnessed the ugly mother and daughter milling around and talking. Didn't Heidi have any friends?

"Hi, Carlisle!" Mrs. Umbridge called out. She put her nose up in the air as her eyes traveled over to Esme. "What are you two doing this fine day?"

"We're just relaxing, Mrs. Umbridge," I said, to be polite. She unbuttoned her blouse a little to show her wrinkled cleavage, and it was disgusting.

"I'm a little hot. Heidi, dear, give Carlisle a raisin cookie,"

"Yes, Mother," she said, sneering in Esme's direction. She knelt down next to me, purposefully squeezing her arms close to her chest, so her breasts would push together and show more cleavage than she had. Wait, she had no breasts, so she didn't have much of a cleavage. She was just skin and bones, like her mother. "Have a cookie,"

"No, thank you,"

"Oh, please, take it!" she pleaded. "Don't make me get on my hands and knees!"

"You already are," Esme murmured, and I stifled a laugh.

Heidi scoffed. "I'm sorry, was I talking to _you_?"

"I don't give a fuck who you're talking to!" Esme snapped.

"You swore!" she gasped. "Thank goodness you didn't use the Lord's name in vain!"

"He doesn't want your _goddamn_ cookie," Esme snickered and reached over my lap and knocked the cookie out of Heidi's hands.

"My, you're handsome, Carlisle, looking just like your daddy every day," Heidi's mother told me, trying to be flirty and come up way too close to my face, making me back away.

"Uh, thank you, Mrs. Umbridge,"

"But that little friend of yours is so rude! Come on, Heidi, I'll get rid of your tears for you,"

"You'll go down under, Esme!" Heidi choked and sobbed.

Esme simply flipped the bird at her, and Heidi gasped and turned away.

"God, the only women who flirt with me are ugly tramps, religious freaks, and old ladies who's eggs are done being fertilized," I groaned.

Esme laughed uncomfortably. "It sucks, doesn't it? Eeww, Heidi's mom is so creepy and her daughter is such a selfish bitch!"

"The two of them tried to shake their asses at me, but they have no butt!"

Esme burst into giggles. "Oh, burn! Good one!"

"Thanks, Es. Why don't we go home before they decide to tell on us?"

"Yeah, they're big babies. Come on," She jumped to her feet and made me run after her. I caught her before she hit the ground. We were now at the swingset, and she wanted to swing for a little while. I guess she changed her mind.

"Wheee!" she hollered as she swung and I watched. She looked so pretty swaying in the breeze as she was right now, and she didn't need me to push her. I sat on the swing next to hers and started going higher like she was. When we got bored of it, we rode back home. I loved to watch her have fun and I was behind her so if she fell, I could quickly know and help her off the ground. We were safe on the ride back home, but we slowed down as we got to Rosalie's house. It was a little eerie, even in the daytime, because of the many trees making shadows on the house that could barely be seen.

"It's amazing that such a nice family lives in that house," I pointed out.

"I guess they're courageous to live in a house with a forbidden room. It's probably really interesting more than scary,"

"You should check it out," I reccomended.

"Good idea. Part of me doesn't really want to, though, but maybe I will,"

"Well, it's your choice,"

My dad had a pissed off look on his face when I got back home after waving goodbye to Esme. I rolled my eyes, knowing the Umbridges had told him about their episode with us at the park.

"Son, you have to tell that girl not to be so nasty to our church friends. I know she's not like them, but she needs to be friendly,"

"Yeah, Dad, I will, don't worry,"

That was a lie. Esme had other things on her mind to concern herself with, and neither of us cared about Heidi or her annoying mother.

**Please read and review! Thank you to reviewers, k8lin713, LaurenFacinelli, that kiwi chick, ****TeamCarlisleandEsme8, cuddyannie, JUJU a****nd Just4Me! I'm having so much fun writing this because of all your lovely reviews!**


	7. Sunshine and Darkness

Esme POV:

My mom came in my room to wake me up, but I was under the covers, so she hugged the pink bundle which was me. "Baby, what are you doing under there, huh?"

"No, I don't wanna get up!" I cried, playing around.

"Come on, sweetie," She tickled me and I laughed, "No, no!" as I kicked her away.

Lily called me and asked me to sit for Rosalie from noon until six, since she and Charles were going to have lunch with his client and then do some work at their office. They worked at the same place, but Charles was the boss and Lily was one of his employees. I was planning on hanging out with Renee and the kids, but I would have no problem taking Rosalie with me. I walked to their house by myself since it was in broad daylight and knocked on the door, praying that Lily would answer first. The door suddenly opened and Charles ran out in a gray suit and tie, yelling that it was time to go. Lily was right behind him, dressed up as well in a black skirt and a blue blouse.

"But Daddy! You didn't say bye to me!" Rosalie said in a tiny voice.

"Hurry up, Lily! I'm starting the car and you'll lose your job if you miss work!"

"Bye, baby," she said quickly, kissing Rosalie's forehead and cheeks. "Sorry, Esme, he doesn't want to be late. Have a great day, girls!"

I waved at her and joined Rosalie inside. We both watched their sleek silver Volvo pull out from the garage and zoom away. It was scary how Charles was so friendly yesterday to Carlisle and barely spoke to me, but he was a totally different person with only me. Maybe it was because he thought Carlisle was a threat. Well, if I told Carlisle exactly what Charles was saying to me two nights ago, he'd go ballistic.

"Hi, honey," I said, bending down to Rosalie's level and giving her a hug. She folded her arms across her chest and she had the saddest look on her face. It was so heartbreaking and she looked like she was about to cry. "Aw, what's the matter, Rosie? Why don't you turn that frown upside down?"

"My daddy didn't hug or kiss me goodbye,"

"Oh, baby, I know how it feels. But I'm sure he loves you more than my dad ever loved me. My dad never paid attention to me. But your dad plays with you until he needs to go to work, right?"

She nodded. "But he went away too fast!"

"He seemed stressed out,"

She looked up at me and crinkled her nose adorably. "What's that mean?"

"Worried about adult things. Now we can do something fun today. What do you say about going to my friend Renee's house? She has kids around your age. You know the Swans?"

She nodded happily and I was glad she cheered up. "I have so much fun with them! Please, can we go there? Oh, please, Esme?"

I laughed at her eagerness. "Definitely! Come on,"

Rosalie held my hand as we both walked down and out into the big neighborhood. She skipped and pulled me along with her, so I tried to do what she was doing. She was way better at it, though. When we got to Renee's house, I let her ring the doorbell. She had to stand on her tiptoes to do it. Renee opened the door and gave me a giant hug. "Hi, Esme! Oh, who's this charming little girl?"

"This is Rosalie," I smoothed her blonde hair back from her forehead and guided her to meet Renee. "Honey, say hi to Renee,"

"Hi, Renee," Rosalie said shyly, tucking her face into my legs.

"Hey, there, Rosalie,"

"Wow, what's in there?" Rosalie put her hand on Renee's belly, and we both chuckled nervously.

"I'm having a baby, Miss Rosie,"

We both took her by the hand on either side and swung her a little and then went inside the house.

"Esme, she's so cute. I'm about to make lunch, which is macaroni and cheese,"

"I know! Oh that sounds yummy!" I led Rosalie to where I could hear screaming kids.

"Rosie!" Emmett yelled, running over to her and almost knocking her over with a hug.

"Hi, Emmett! Look, Esme, he's my boyfriend!" Rosalie said excitedly as Emmett kissed her cheek.

"You two are so cute. Hold on to him tight, Rose,"

"You got it, dude!" Rosalie gave me a thumbs up.

"Hi, Esme," Emmett said, and I gave him a noogie.

"Hey, wild guy, where are those crazy sisters of yours? I gotta get my hands on 'em,"

"They're playing boring old Barbies. Come on, I'll show you!" He took me by the hand, and Rosalie by his other hand and we followed him to Alice and Bella's room. They slept in bunk beds, and Alice got the top one, claiming Bella was clumsy and would fall off. It was also because she was younger.

"Hey, girls," I interrupted their little game. They were stuffing Barbie dolls into a pink motorhome and talking like they were the dolls themselves.

"Esme!" Alice squealed, running to my legs and hugging them. Bella copied her.

The doorbell rang, and the kids rushed to get it, crashing into each other while cackling. I came after them, thinking, what it would be like to be a kid again, with nothing to worry about...my thoughts were interrupted when they swung open the door, and in walked Carlisle and Jasper. I was again reminded of all the soft touches he gave me yesterday that made a sensation in the lower part of my belly. It made me blush, step back slightly, and bite my lip. The children were now attacking him, like they did me. Jasper hugged Alice and kissed her cheek, making her blush. Then, the five of them went back into the living room, laughing and playing.

"Nice to see you again. I just brought Jasper over here to hang out with Alice," Carlisle said, hugging me close. God, his cologne was so sweet smelling and I loved him in his white shirt and blue shorts...he looked so sexy!

"And where's Kate?"

"On a date with Garrett, it's her first date. I took her to your house, hoping you would be there to help her with her makeup, but your mom said you weren't home, so she helped Kate instead,"

"Sorry, I should have told you before,"

"It's fine. So Heidi is a Barbie doll..." he started, and I burst into giggles.

"That's so random! What made you think of that?"

We went to sit on the couch because the chair was occupied. "I just forgot to tell her mother that. I'm kinda glad I didn't because I don't want my dad to get too angry at us and make me stop seeing you or something,"

"Yeah, I'll try not to insult her, but sometimes, she just gets on my nerves," I growled.

"I know,"

"Well, you came just in time for lunch!" Renee announced, and Charlie put his hands around her waist. They shared a sweet kiss, and I was jealous that they were in love, and Carlisle wasn't falling for me anytime soon.

We stayed there, having fun with each other and the little ones from noon until about five-thirty, and then I took Rosalie to meet my mom and siblings. I felt a tugging on my white skirt and looked down to see Bella. "Can I come too? I wanna see Eddie,"

"Sure, honey," I said goodbye to everyone and gave them all hugs, and then took both Rosalie's and Bella's hands as we walked to my house. Edward and Bella were apparently a couple too, because they never stayed away from each other. My mom loved meeting Rosalie and even swung her in the air a few times. Eric was at work, so he couldn't meet her yet.

"I love your mommy," Rosalie said as I took her up the stairs.

"Thanks, sweetheart," I beamed down at her.

We chose to look out the window, and that's when I saw Bree and Vera repeatedly throwing rocks into the street. I ran downstairs with Rosalie hot on my heels. I wanted her to meet my little sisters, but I also wanted to tell them to stop tossing rocks into the road because they could seriously damage a car or its tires, angering the drivers whom they struck.

"Girls, our street is not a pond. Please cut that out!" I commanded.

"We're bored!" Vera complained.

"Well, then meet my little friend, Rosalie," I yanked Rosalie out from behind me, and soon, my two baby sisters were happily introducing themselves to her.

"I love Rosie!" Bree squealed, and Vera nodded in agreement.

"That's great! It's easy to love her," They scrambled after us when we went inside the house and Rosalie played with Edward, Bella, Vera, and Bree in my room while I picked up one of my romance novels and started reading it. Suddenly, I heard the doorbell ring, and I ran to the top of the stairs to see who it was. I saw my mom standing at the door with Bree and Vera directly behind her legs, hiding, while Edward, Bella, and Rosalie were still in my room. Mom opened the door.

"Hello, are you the mother of some kids?" a man asked her. He sounded strangely familiar.

"Yes, why?"

"A stone hit my car just now, and I think it was because of your children,"

I gasped and clapped my hand over my mouth. I knew this would happen!

"Oh, no, they were right here with me,"

"Huh. Maybe I should get my eyes checked. The only harm done was a chipped paint job way at the bottom near the front tire. My wife says it's not a big deal..."

"It is. I'm sorry, I hope you get it fixed,"

"Well, ma'am, better my car than me or my wife, right?"

"Oh yes,"

"You know, my daughter does the craziest things sometimes. One time, she actually patted someone's belly when they were pregnant and asked the woman how she could hug her if she was so big,"

"Really?" Mom asked, laughing. "Oh, kids do the darndest things,"

How could a stranger make my mother laugh that hard? I walked downstairs slowly and saw that he was Charles Evenson. I wanted to scream at her to get the hell away from him. On the other hand, I was glad his car was the one that got damaged. It served him right. I ran back up the stairs in horror.

"Speaking of children, how many do you have? I'm looking for my child right now, but I guess Esme, my babysitter, took her here. She does live here, right?"

"Yeah, I have four kids, Esme's one of them, and the oldest, too. She's so caring and helpful, no wonder she's such a good babysitter,"

"She's a very good one indeed. Well, Mrs. Platt, I'll see you around, maybe at the pool party?"

"Certainly. Good bye, Mr..."

"Mr. Evenson, but please, call me Charles,"

"And you can call me Anne, if you'd like,"

"Anne," he repeated. "Have a good night,"

"You too,"

The door closed, and I was sure my mouth was still wide open.

"Mom, who was that?" I asked, playing dumb.

"A nice gentleman named Charles Evenson. The silly man thought Bree and Vera hit his car, but they didn't," she chuckled. "Rosalie's father was very kind about it, actually. I'd really like Eric to meet him. Maybe we can have double dates with him and his wife,"

"Okay..." I said awkwardly. "I'm gonna take Rosalie and Bella home now," I picked Rose up and bounced her on my hip, held Bella's hand, and proceeded down the stairs and out the door. "No more monkey business," I scolded my sisters. "See you soon, Edward," I said, kissing his forehead. I raced to drop Bella off and then Rosalie.

That night, when I got there, I saw their car pulling up in the driveway and then they got out and went inside. I followed them in the house and I pulled Lily aside while Charles played with his daughter. I didn't miss his eyes scanning up and down my body. Pervert.

"Lily, I need to tell you something," I said in a serious voice.

"What is it, honey?"

"No offense, but I feel weird about Charles walking me home. He always asks me strange personal questions and last night, he said I looked pretty. It's a little creepy," I didn't want to mention the sexual comments he said to me. It wasn't necessary. She was mad enough.

Her face went from gentle to furious. "I'm gonna talk to him. No matter what he says, I'll be taking you home,"

"Thanks, but you seemed a little afraid of him last night,"

"I don't like it when he's mad at me. But I'll get him distracted with something. Don't worry,"

"What are we ladies talking about?" Charles asked, and I felt nauseating chills run up and down my spine. I took a few steps back from him involuntarily and moved closer to Lily's back.

"Just that I'm taking Esme home. I don't feel comfortable with you taking her home,"

"Why?" he snapped.

"Honey, take Rosie upstairs," Lily whispered to me. I tiptoed upstairs while holding Rosalie's hand.

"Because it seems like you have a sick crush on her! She's just a young girl!" Lily hollered at him. "You leave her alone, you hear me?"

"Don't you tell me what to do, woman!" There was a small crash, and Rosalie whimpered. Her little light blue eyes were filling with tears. I held her against me and listened some more while closing my eyes.

"You've been gone after you take her home as well! At least an hour, you never show up until like midnight! Are you psycho? Where the hell do you go every night?"

"Shut up, Lillian. Just shut your mouth before you get into any more trouble!"

Rosalie was now holding onto my shirt for dear life and crying into it, getting the front of my white blouse wet with her tears. "They fight like this all the time. I want my old daddy back. Not this one. He's mean to my mommy,"

"Oh, honey, parents fight all the time. They still love you, though. The screaming matches only happen rarely, though, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so," she sniffled. "Let me show you a picture of me and my mommy and my old daddy," She led me in her room and pulled out a big photo album. I helped her carry it to her bed and we looked at all the pictures. Somehow, Lily looked happier with her former husband. I wondered what happened to him. She didn't have the light in her eyes like she did in the pictures. And Rosalie looked so tiny and cute as a toddler. "I love your pictures, Rosie,"

"Thank you, Esme," She laid her head in my lap, I stroked her golden hair and tried to soothe her to sleep, but her parents were arguing too much.

"You have such pretty hair, baby," I murmured.

It was silent and I could hear Lily sobbing, "You don't love me,"

"Of course I love you, baby. How could you say that!"

"Just leave me alone. Please,"

"No! Lillian, stop acting stupid! You can't do this to me!"

"I can, Charles. And I will. I need a break from you for a while. Come downstairs, Esme. I'm canceling my appointment and Charles can go play on his Harley and see his secret girlfriend,"

I ran downstairs with Rosalie hugging my legs tightly. I gave her a kiss on the forehead and we said good bye to each other. Once Lily and I stepped out the door, I instantly apologized, "I'm causing your fighting with Charles. I am so sorry,"

"Darling, it's not your fault," Lily said, wiping her eyes and sniffling. "He's always like this. The only reason I won't leave him is because of Rosie. She's my little angel,"

"How did you meet Charles?" The real question was why did she ever fall in love with a cheating man who likes to look at girls other than his wife?

"I was a nurse and he was a recovering alcoholic in the hospital, but lately, he's started drinking again and sometimes he yells at me for small things. He's seven years older than me. We met when Rosalie was four. He was really nice at first, helping me out with Rose and giving me a shoulder to cry on when I thought about the guys in my family who I had lost. We moved here a year later, when Rosalie started kindergarten. Over the past two years, he's just been...controlling. He never really lets us go out, unless we're with him, he doesn't let me drive, he takes Rose to school by strapping her to the back of his Harley, and one time, I tried to fight him about that, but he refused and said I should be letting my girl be a daredevil. He's afraid _I'll_ run away when _he's_ the one cheating," Lily scoffed, sounding angry and annoyed at the same time.

"That's unsafe for a child to ride on that kind of vehicle,"

"Try telling Charles that. He never listens to me because I'm a woman,"

"That's just terrible,"

"I have a fucked up life and I can't go to the police about it! He doesn't hit me, he just annoys the living shit out of me! At least he puts a helmet on my daughter, and she's never even wobbled on that thing!"

"He shouldn't do that, keep you and Rosalie away from society like that,"

"At least he's planning a neighborhood pool party, this Friday. He wants to seem more normal, so police don't start coming around our place. He's got a Doberman chained up in some room that he forbade us to go into, God knows why,"

"Wait a second...he said you and Rose don't even know about it,"

"He's also a pathetic liar. Don't believe or trust anything he says. We know all about the forbidden room, he just wanted to creep you out and make you believe you were the only one who knew about it, like his partner in crime,"

"Ohh...I don't like the sound of that. Have you guys ever seen it?"

"He uses it as a guard dog only for that room, so no. He takes it out for walks late at night, past midnight, and early in the morning, before five,"

"That's weird. You guys have only heard it, though, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm too afraid to see it or let Rosalie near it. Those things are terrifying!"

"I'll say. Well, here's my house. Thank you, Lily," I reached my arms out so she could give me a hug and she read my body language perfectly. I went into her arms.

"Good night, sweetie,"

"Are you gonna be okay walking home alone in the dark?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry,"

"Oh, Lily?" She turned around to face me. "My mom is your age. You guys would be great friends. I'll introduce you two at the pool party,"

"Thank you, dear,"

"No problem,"

My slumber was much better that night.

**Please read and review! Thank you to reviewers TeamCarlisleandEsme8, Just4Me, JUJU, LaurenFacinelli, k8lin713, cuddyannie, and that kiwi chick, please review the 6th chapter! I've got three written already, so I'm ahead of the game! yay!**


	8. Pure Evil

Carlisle POV:

When Jasper and I got home from Renee's house, I heard loud talking and laughter. Kate was home from her date as well, and judging by the smile on her face, it went well.

"Hey, Carlisle!" she said happily while hugging me, and I picked her up, making her giggle. "Hey, lil bro," she said, messing up Jasper's hair.

"Hi, Katie! I kissed Alice's cheek today!"

"Aww, you two are so cute,"

"Welcome home, Kate. How was your date with Garrett?" I asked.

"It was wonderful...we kissed. Your little sister is growing up, and there's nothing you can do about it," she teased me and stuck her tongue out at me.

"Well, good, I hope you had fun and you were safe,"

"Don't worry, I won't do anything you wouldn't do," she said, rolling her eyes and walking away.

"Carlisle, Jasper, I'm so glad you boys are home," my dad said cheerfully. "You made it just in time for afternoon tea. And Kate's home too! This is great!"

"Afternoon tea?" I asked quizzically. It was five-thirty, very late afternoon, almost the evening!

"It was the only time Margie and Heidi were available,"

"You invited them?" I whispered angrily. "You know how I feel about them, Dad!"

"Be nice," he scolded. "Go and meet them, they're in the kitchen,"

"Idiot prudes," I said low under my breath so nobody could hear. When I saw them, I plastered on the fakest smile I could. "Hello, Mrs. Umbridge and Heidi,"

"Well, hey there, mister," Mrs. Umbridge sauntered over to me and gave me a hug and kiss on both cheeks. It was disgusting.

"Hiiiii, Carlisle," Heidi gave me a hug, which I returned with my arms limp over her waist and then I pulled away from her quickly. She stroked my faint beard, ran her hand up my shirt, squeezed one of my nipples, and made a sound of approval. "You feel good," she said softly while blushing.

"Okay, Heidi, let me make this clear," I put both hands on her bony shoulders and pushed her away gently. "We're not a couple. Please stop flirting with me,"

She gasped, trying to look innocent. "I'm not flirting with you. I don't even have a crush on you. We're just friends. Now, do you like my dress?" She spun around in her long white and black polka dotted dress, making her look about twelve years old.

"Yep," I muttered.

"Yay!" she squealed, jumping up and down while clapping her hands. "God must have spent a lot of time on me. I'm beautiful, aren't I, Mother?"

"Of course you are, darling. Esme's not even half as pretty as you are,"

"Yeah, that's because she's the devil's spawn!"

"I would appreciate it if you guys didn't speak negatively about Esme," I interrupted them. "She's my best friend,"

"She's so rude to me, though! She made me cry myself to sleep!" Heidi whined.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that...but you need to at least be polite to her even if you two don't get along,"

Mrs. Umbridge pouted. "Okay,"

"Fine, have it your way!" Heidi griped.

"Thank you," I sighed. "Ready for tea?"

"Yes!" both girls shouted.

Everyone sat at the table outside. My dad was at the end, opposite Mrs. Umbridge. Jasper and Kate were on one side and I was on the other, next to Heidi. I wanted to be next to Jasper, but I didn't want Kate or Jasper to have to sit next to her with the fear of her giving them a lecture about being pure and waiting until marriage, because they were just kids. I knew they wouldn't do anything besides kissing until they were at least in late high school.

"Mmm, this is delicious," Mrs. Umbridge murmured. "You're so good at this, Edwin,"

"Thank you, Margie. Tea is a good thing to have with great church friends like you and Heidi,"

"Oh, yes. Aren't you glad it's summer?"

"No more taking the kids to school and getting up too early," Dad muttered and Mrs. Umbridge let out a earsplitting laugh.

"Yes, the only reason I would wake up early in the summer is for church. It's so fun to learn about God and His teachings. That's why I signed Heidi up for church school. She just loves the uniforms, and she's made many friends so far. Dear girl, tell Mr. Cullen who your friends are,"

"Yes, Mother. There's Jane, Renata, Corin, Chelsea, Alec, Santiago, Felix, Demetri, Aro, Marcus, and Caius. Some of them are together, but they're so good, they don't even kiss! I don't have a boyfriend quite yet, because I'm only eighteen. I'm waiting for the Lord to find me a boy. I adore Him so much. I know He is waiting for me in heaven,"

I wondered for a second if there was something that could make her go to God right now. Nobody needed her anyway except her dumb perverted mother.

"Well, that's great. I'm happy for you, Heidi. You will find someone in time, but there's no rush," my father told her.

"Are you sure you want to be into the church? I mean, have you guys heard of those pedophile priests who molest the altar boys?" I asked, just to get under their skin. I knew the priest in my church wasn't like that.

"We don't have those in our parish, Carlisle," Dad said coldly. "Kids, tell the Umbridges what you're doing these days,"

"Me and Carlisle-" Jasper started, but Mrs. Umbridge interrupted him.

"Carlisle and I, dear boy,"

"_Carlisle and I_ went to Renee's house and I played with Alice, Bella, Rosalie, and Emmett, while Carlisle played with Esme,"

"Renee? Hm," Heidi mumured with her lips in a straight line. "The girl who had babies before she turned of age? No wonder she and Esme are best of friends,"

"She's even worse than Esme," Mrs. Umbridge said, horrified.

"She's twenty-three, Mrs. Umbridge," I put in.

"But her first child came out when she wasn't married, at the age of fourteen!" Heidi protested. "I bet her parents threw her out,"

"They're not like that. I love Renee, she's like a big sister to me, and so is Esme," Kate said.

My dad didn't speak. He just listened to the quiet argument that was brewing.

"Well, she's no role model! Kate, how would your father feel if he knew you were going out with Garrett?" Mrs. Umbridge asked shrewdly.

"They just kissed, is all. Is that okay?" I asked.

"It's fine," Dad reassured us. "Kissing is the most couples can do, but Kate, you better not have made out with him,"

"Eeww, with tongue? People actually do that?" Heidi cried, and I nodded with a huge smirk on my face. "That's sick,"

"Not really, it's normal," I said, shrugging.

"Your funeral," Heidi sat back in her chair with her arms crossed over her flat chest. "I'm praying for you, Carlisle,"

"Esme would die for me,"

"Humph. You know why I hate her?"

"Why?"

"Because you let her control you!"

"She's not bossy,"

"She doesn't let us be friends. That's why you can't be friends with me, right? It's because of Esme,"

"No, it's because we're too different from each other,"

"But we could be the same..."

"Goodbye, Heidi,"

When tea was over, Dad didn't bother letting them stay. He knew it was going to go overboard before he could stop it, so he thanked them for coming and they left gladly. I went upstairs to call Esme, hoping she wasn't still babysitting, and she wasn't because she picked up the phone right away.

"Carlisle, thank God," she murmured. "I was just about to call you,"

"Really? That's funny. Anyway, guess who arrived at my house when I got home?"

"I'm a bad guesser,"

"My father decided to invite the ugly Umbridges over,"

"Oh, that sucks! Did they give you lectures about being pure?"

"Well, they complained about Renee and said she was a bad role model for getting pregnant when she was fourteen, before she was married, and they called you a devil's spawn. I stuck up for both of you, but I'm sorry they said that. They're just on crack,"

"Eh, I don't care...they're losers anyway. You know what they say about selfish prudes; they're stuck up and only care about themselves, and will never get anywhere in life except for church shit," Esme giggled.

"Fuck Heidi,"

"Too bad no one will fuck Heidi!" she said, and I laughed.

"Ohhhh, burn! Finally, a swear word! I've missed those,"

She laughed. "Fuck those bastards,"

"You are the best girl in the world, you know that?"

"Swearing is one of my specialties, goddamnit!" she whispered. "I don't want the kids to hear. And thank you," I imagined her beaming and looking down when I complimented her. "Oh, and I have some news for you, Carlisle,"

"What?"

"Bree and Vera were throwing rocks and they hit Charles' car, and he talked to my mom about it, but she said they were right with her as they hid behind her legs. She didn't even suspect their naughty behavior! It was so funny, and Charles believed her every word! They were even making friends with each other,"

I started chuckling. "That sounds like something your sisters would do, and of course, your mom is gullible,"

"Yeah, she's a little like me,"

"I think she's very much like you. She looks like you too,"

"I know! Everyone says that," she giggled. "Hey, just to make you feel better, Lily took me home instead of Charles. He's nice, but I wanted a change,"

"Oh, that's good, I suppose. Any other motorcycle catastrophes?"

"Nope...I haven't seen that big thing lately,"

"Well, what are you doing tomorrow?"

"Babysitting for Rose while Lily and Charles see a movie, seven to ten, and then a sleepover at Renee's house. I'm so excited for the pool party this Friday, by the way,"

"So am I! Have fun tomorrow. I might just hang out with the boys,"

"That's cool. Oh, Mom says we're gonna watch a family movie. Talk to you tomorrow,"

"Okay, bye!"

Thursday morning, the boys came over to play basketball. It was Charlie, Billy, Harry, and I against Liam, Peter, and Eleazar. Jasper played on their team too to make it even. We were dribbling and shooting, and the score was two to nothing by lunchtime. My team was winning.

"Man, you're too good, Carlisle," Eleazar complained, but I knew he was proud of me. "Congratulations, man,"

"Thanks, dude," We hi fived, and then Peter yelled, "He shoots, he scores!" The ball sailed into the basket, and I saw Jasper by the hoop, jumping up and down wildly. He was getting so good at this game.

"Hey, you're doing well, little buddy," Charlie said, shaking his hand. "Carlisle, you've taught him well,"

"Thanks. You know, Alice likes him a lot,"

"Yeah, he's a great kid, especially for my daughter,"

"That means so much to me, Charlie,"

"Thanks, man,"

"What did you do yesterday, bro?" Eleazar asked.

"The Umbridges came over and made noise, annoying me, Jasper, and Kate to death,"

"Oh, boy. What about Tuesday, after your driving lesson?"

"I hung out with Esme at the park. What did you guys do?"

"Stuff with our girlfriends," Billy answered me.

"Yeah, real fun," Harry added.

"Esme's having a sleepover with your girls at Renee's place tomorrow at ten. That should be awesome," I commented, and all the guys cheered.

"Siobhan's leaving me with Maggie. Daddy daughter time," Liam said excitedly.

"I have a lot of that because I only have one son," Charlie said.

"You know, Heidi was rude about Renee having babies since she was fourteen,"

"Ugh, those Umbridge bitches get on my nerves!" Charlie thundered. "They need to lighten up and look for more people than just God,"

"I know," I agreed with him. "Oh, look, there's Charles Evenson, coming up our street right now. Esme told me he almost ran over Emmett,"

"Oh, Jesus fuck, I don't wanna talk to him," Charlie grumbled.

"He's actually not that bad. It was just a mistake, and he swerved out of the way just in time,"

"Thank God,"

"Hi, boys," Charles said, making us all look up. "Carlisle, are these guys the boyfriends of the girls Esme introduced to me a few days ago?"

"Yes they are, sir. How are you?"

"I'm good, very good, son,"

The boys introduced themselves to Charles, and Jasper got in front of everyone and piped up with, "Hi, Mr. Evenson!"

"Hey, little guy. You're Rosalie's friend, right?"

"Yep!"

"I _thought_ I knew you. Well, I'm glad I ran into you guys, because I haven't been around guys for a while. It's just girls, like my wife, my daughter, and my babysitter. Guy talk is nice to have, isn't it?"

"Yup, we love our guy time," Eleazar responded.

"How do you like those Huskies?" Charles asked.

"Aw, man, they're doing great. Those stupid Wolverines have no chance," Liam shook his head.

"That team sucks!" Charlie guffawed.

"You bet. And how about the bar? You guys ever go there?"

"Just Liam and Charlie go, because the rest of us are underaged. Sometimes they go on a double date with Siobhan and Renee, and Esme takes care of their kids, and sometimes, they just go to have guy bonding," I answered for them.

"You like drinking?"

"Just a little, not enough to get drunk," I answered again.

"Ever go to a strip club?"

We all shook our heads. "Damn, I don't wanna see sluts! My girl's so much better," Billy insisted.

"You ever see a girl naked before?"

"We used to look at porn until we started our relationships, but I don't know if Carlisle still does, because he's single," Harry said.

"Why not look at porn during your relationships? They don't always last, you know,"

"Dude! It's disrespectful and like cheating on your girlfriend. Man, you remind me of a player!" I rolled my eyes. I looked at girls who looked just like Esme, on the computer and hid it from my dad. Jasper liked to sneak a peek as well. But if Esme ever fell in love with me, I would quit looking at porn.

"Oh, I used to be a big ass player when I was your age, but now, I love my wife, Lily, and don't see a speck of porn! You ever hear of Wacko Jacko? Now he's a complete gay fucker,"

Everyone laughed. "Yeah, he's sick! Man, I'm glad Michael Jackson died, but I loved his music. Jazzy boy was scared of him for a while, though," Charlie said. "So was Emmett. I mean, what does Wacko Jacko have in common with McDonalds? They both put meat in their ten year old buns!"

Charles and the rest of us howled with laughter. "Oh, and don't forget about the priests. They're big pedophiles! That's one of the reasons why I hate church," he said.

"Same here. I also hate it because of its strict rules. Who says you can't have a child before marriage? It's your choice, completely!" I thought out loud.

"The funny thing is, those perverts never molested young girls, only small boys. I would have thought they would get the girls first. I mean, what happened to hide yo wife, hide yo kids, cuz I'm raping everybody out there?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure they would rape girls as well, but they mostly raped guys," Billy said.

"I'll sing the whole song for y'all, then you repeat after me when I point to ya," Charles announced, and we agreed.

"He's climbin in your windows, he's snatchin your people up, tryna rape em so y'all need to," It was our turn to rap as well as we could.

"Hide your kids, hide your wife, hide your kids, hide your wife, hide your kids, hide your wife and hide your husband, cuz they're rapin errbody out here,"

"You don't have to come and confess, we're lookin for you, we gon find you, we gon find you, so you can run and tell that,run and tell that, run and tell that, homeboy, home, home, homeboy. We got your t-shirt, you done left fingerprints and all,you are so dumb, you are really dumb-for real. The man got away leaving behind evidence, I was attacked by some idiot in the projects. So dumb, so dumb, so dumb, so he's climbin in your windows, he's snatchin your people up, tryna rape em so y'all need to-"

"Hide your kids, hide your wife hide your kids, hide your wife hide your kids, hide your wife and hide your husband cuz they're rapin errbody out here,"

"You don't have to come and confess, we're lookin for you, we gon find you, we gon find you, so you can run and tell that,run and tell that, run and tell that, homeboy. Home, home, homeboy,"

I noticed Kate was staring at us with a dumbstruck look on her face. "Are you guys on crack?" she asked, trying not to laugh.

"Naw, Katie, we're just playing around," Harry said, going to mess up her hair.

"Is that your sister, Carlisle?" Charles wondered aloud.

"Yes. Kate, this is Charles Evenson, Rosalie's dad,"

"Oh, hey, Mr. Evenson," she said, waving and disappearing inside the house.

"She didn't shake my hand like you guys did," Charles looked a little hurt.

"She's shy," I explained.

"Okay. Well, bye, you guys, it's been fun rapping with you,"

"Bye, sir," We waved at him.

"Wow, he acts like a teenager, just like us," Peter said, amazed.

"He's cool, man," Charlie said. "I remember everyone's made accidents with their vehicles once or twice before, so he's excused,"

"Maybe he'd be a nice addition to our group," Liam mused.

"Yeah, maybe," I echoed. "And his wife can join Esme's girl clique,"

"That would be nice, get Rosalie's parents out a lot more," Eleazar said.

"And find out the mystery of that house," I added. "He's awesome, man,"

"I know, he could give you advice on how to get a girl, Carlisle," Harry said, patting my shoulder.

I already had a dream girl and my friends teased me about being the only single guy, but I wanted her so badly! But how could I get her?

**Please read and review! Thank you to reviewers, k8lin713, LaurenFacinelli, that kiwi chick, ****TeamCarlisleandEsme8, cuddyannie, a****nd Just4Me! JUJU, you need to make an account on FanFiction so I can write to you when a new chapter is updated because you might not know when I add a new chapter since you review anonymously. ALSO...I've written little summaries on my phone of each chapter I'm going to post and it's going to be about 25-30 chapters, but since school is starting this coming Monday, updates will be slower than slow. I appreciate everyone's support and would love for you guys to continue reading and reviewing each chapter! I'll try finishing this story by Christmas break...as for now, four back-to-back chapters, starting with the freaky Jesus loving Umbridges and going on with the two-faced Charles are coming your way!**


	9. Something Wicked This Way Comes

Esme POV:

Everything that happened with Heidi was so funny, and she deserved every bit of it. Carlisle just kept burning her right and left, and pretty soon, she'd get sick of going over to his house with her prissy mother. I was getting ready to walk to Rosalie's house, because I noticed her father was with Carlisle and his friends. I had no idea what he was doing there, but at least I would get to talk to Lily, just the two of us, until they had to leave. I hurried so fast that I ran into my mom as I rushed out the door. She was carrying shopping bags and I almost made her drop them.

"Oh, sorry, Mom!" I apologized instantly.

"It's okay, sweetie,"

"I'll see you tomorrow. I'm gonna pack for the sleepover when I get back from babysitting, but I don't want to wake you, Eric, or the kids,"

"Alright, Esme, have fun,"

"Thank you! Bye!" I giggled as she kissed my forehead and my cheeks. It was getting slightly dark, so I ran while watching where I was going, and got to the house as fast as possible. I rang the doorbell, and Lily opened it, looking tired and sad.

"Hi, Lily," I said gently.

She wrapped me up in a hug. "Hi, Esme. I'm so happy to see you. Charles escaped thirty minutes ago, but I'm feeling a little down. Come take a walk with me and we can talk,"

I followed her outside and found us going in the opposite direction, far away from my house.

"What's wrong?" I wanted her to tell me more about her secret life. I didn't know much about her, but I had a feeling she was a woman with a dark past.

"I've been pretty down lately. Things haven't been the same since William passed on when Rosalie was only three. People used to call us Lilly Willy without putting the 'and' in between our names," She laughed for a short second and then went back to her soft, grave tone. "Will died in Iraq, and our son Aiden died when he was only ten before Rosalie was born. He saved his dad when they were flying home from a vacation on 9/11,"

I had no idea, but I felt intense sadness for her. Carlisle had lost his mother, just like Rosalie had lost her father. And Lily lost her one true love. "I'm so sorry,"

"Rosalie and I used to visit his grave a lot and speak to him...there are flowers there from the last time we went there," She was quiet and looked down as she walked at a very slow pace. I had to look behind me to see if she was still there. Her long blonde hair was blowing a little in the wind as she spoke. I wanted to ask why they didn't go to his grave anymore, but it was too personal of a question.

"How did you and William meet?"

"We were both in high school, and the same age, fourteen. Keep in mind that Charles is seven years older than me. Anyway, we were both freshmen in the same Spanish class. I was bad, but he was great at it, so he was my tutor. I fell in love with him because he was such a hopeless romantic, like I am. He asked me out a year later, and we went to homecoming and junior and senior prom together..."

"High school sweethearts, then, That's so sweet,"

"Yes," Her voice was breaking as her eyes clouded over. "We married when we were out of college, and four years later, we had little Rosalie. Will called her our little flower, a rose. That's one of the reasons why roses are my favorite flowers. We were together for thirteen years before Rosalie, and then he went to war after she was born. I didn't see him much, and then, that fateful day, when I was thirty-one, I got the telegram..." She was unable to go on and she sounded choked up. Just the sound of her sobbing made me hug her.

"You don't have to say anything else, Lily. I can feel your pain. My best friend, Carlisle's, mother died just a few months ago. She was like my mother in law. We were that close. I knew her since I was seven and she passed away from a stupid coma,"

"Oh, sweetheart, you two were much younger than me,"

"But to lose your husband, that is a terrible thing,"

"Family is so much more important. I shouldn't be wailing about this when you're missing your beloved mother in law,"

"Come on, Lily, let's go back to the house. You need tissues," I took her by the hand and we ran back inside the house.

"Thank you, Esme," she said after calming down. There was a huge, loud knocking, and we both jumped. Lily got it and Charles stumbled in, probably drunk out of his mind. He was holding Rosalie.

"Found this outside our house playing kickball against our brick wall. Have fun with her, Esme. Come on, Lillian, let's go," he muttered, bored. "Get rid of those stupid tears, you're not a wimp, are you?"

"No," she said silently while looking down at her feet and then left with him. Charles blew me a kiss and I shuddered. Lily mouthed, "Bye," at me and the door shut. Rosalie was sitting on the rug in the foyer where Charles put her down, actually dropped her and she had to land on her feet swiftly, and she had her head in her hands.

"Can't even play in my own front yard," she grumbled.

"Hey, Rosie, you're with me now. We can play, remember?"

"It's too dark right now,"

"I mean in the house. Wanna play hide and seek?"

"Yes, please!" she said, nodding excitedly. "You hide first, I wanna count!"

"Okay, baby," I laughed and when she covered her eyes and started counting, I ran down the hallway, up the stairs, and tried to go under Rosalie's bed, but it was too low. I had to go under Lily and Charles' bed. I rolled under there, but I could only fit under Lily's side, because Charles' side was filled with his shoes and porn magazines. It was so dusty that I closed my eyes and sneezed a few times. They needed a maid as well. Lily cleaned up nicely, but Charles needed lots of help. The stink was so bad that I held my nose and breathed out through my mouth.

The floorboards creaked as Rosalie ran around looking for me, and then I heard her little feet pattering up the stairs. "I know you're in here, Esme!" she shouted, but her voice was far away. A few minutes later, the sheets draping from the bed lifted and her small face appeared, graced with a lovely, dimpled smile. "There you are!"

"Good girl, now it's my turn," I scooted out from under the bed, gasping as I took in the now clean air. Rosalie scampered out of the room as I counted to twenty. I heard a large bang and ran downstairs to follow the noise. I skidded to a stop when I found the door marked 'Warning: Forbidden-DO NOT ENTER!' in messy black handwriting. I was shocked that she had gone in there, because I thought it was locked. Apparently, it wasn't, because as I turned the handle, it creaked loudly and opened. Rosalie was pressed up against another door, and when she screamed, "You found me!" I heard a loud barking noise. That had to be the Doberman he'd chained up, just inside the room that she wanted to go into.

"We can't go in that room. It's locked! Daddy has a scary doggy in there,"

"I wonder what else is in there," I commented. "Come on, I don't want you getting hurt,"

"But Esme, it's impossible! I tried unlocking it with a quarter, but it's stuck!"

I laughed. "It probably requires a specific key. Whatever's in there is dangerous, besides the dog, and he doesn't want anyone to find out what's behind the door,"

"Ooh, is it scary? Is there a vampire in there or something? Maybe that dog is a werewolf!"

"No, those guys don't exist," I declined. "Let's get out of here before your imagination gets too crazy,"

The dog's barking got louder and I heard scratching on the other side. It whined, and I heard some bones snapping. It must have been hungry, so I picked up Rosalie and we both left the room. I shut the door as fast as I could, but a bad smell wafted through the door. I winced.

"Eeewww, it smells like a rat died in there," I said to Rosalie.

"Maybe it's filled with bats,"

"I heard bones crunching, and I don't want the dog to eat little girls with blonde hair or teenange girls who love to babysit said little girl, so let's just forget it, okay?"

"Esme, don't be afraid of the dark," Rosalie said, flipping on a light. That was much better.

"Honey girl, I'm not afraid. I just don't want us to be attacked by the dog if that door ever opens and it gets out,"

"But it's locked up,"

"I know, but collars do get loose if the dog pulls on it enough times,"

"Uh oh, I got an owie," Rosalie said, looking down at her knee. I saw a bruise and a bloody scrape right in the middle of it and gasped.

"Oh no, what happened?"

"I was kicking that door and I banged it with my knee,"

"Where do you keep the Band Aids?" I asked her.

"Right here," She pointed upwards, and I followed her finger to the top cabinet. Opening the drawers, I got out a Band Aid and placed it on her knee. Then, I kissed it to make it all better, and Rosalie grinned when I did that.

"Thanks Esme! Let's have dinner," She ran to the kitchen and tried to get a bowl of pasta, but she could barely reach it. I took it instead and served ourselves. Dinner was yummy, and then we played Barbies and danced to music in her room until Lily and Charles got home. Rosalie got Charles distracted with something so Lily and I could walk out the door together.

"Esme, you're the best babysitter we've ever had. The last nanny we hired mysteriously vanished from our eyes," Lily informed me. I was shocked.

"She ran away?"

"We guess so. She left a note that said she hated Rosalie and took our money,"

"Oh, God, that's horrible. I'm sorry,"

"It's all right, honey. See you tomorrow,"

"I have a sleepover tonight!" I said happily.

"Oh cool, have fun at your sleepover,"

"Thank you. Good night,"

"Night,"

I went inside my home quietly and gathered up all my stuff. Renee was picking me up in her car, and I heard it just when I came back down the stairs and out the door. I threw my bag in the backseat and got in the passenger seat.

"Hey, girl, how was babysitting?"

"Great! I love Rosalie, and her mom's so fun to talk to,"

"That's fantastic. Ready for our late night sleepover?" She pulled up in her driveway and we both got out with my bags.

"I sure am!" Charlie opened the door for us after we rang the doorbell. The girls were already up there, and they cheered jovially when I arrived and practically jumped in their arms.

"You came just in time for a ghost story, Esme," Charlotte said, smiling evilly. I laughed at her expression.

"It's not really from our imaginations...Alice gave us the idea," Sarah told me.

"Yeah, she was like, 'Charles is a bad man, Mama!' to Renee, and he _is_ pretty creepy," Sue added.

"So turn the lights down low, Carmen, and, girl, just do your thing," Siobhan said, and I sat back to hear it. I sat snugly between Renee and Carmen as Carmen shined the flashlight on her face, making her look very spooky. The rest of us were in pitch blackness as she told the story.

"One day, there was a pretty, young girl who came to a dark house in the woods. There was a little girl who lived in that house she was gonna take care of. The girl's father asked her freaky questions and hurt his wife. One night, he locked the babysitter in the forbidden room he had in the house and she was scared. He screamed right in her face, 'BOO!'" Carmen yelled, and I screeched and jumped back. "Sorry, Esme...anyway, the girl got as frightened as you just did, and she had every reason to be. Her remains were left for his attack dog to munch upon...and her ghost haunts the house you're babysitting in right now," She shined the flashlight around the room, illuminating all the girls' faces in the dim brightness. It was a very ominous tale, and I was relieved when Carmen got up to turn the lights on again.

The lights slowly turned on and I was trying to adjust my eyes while my heart was pounding so hard I could barely breathe. "Wow. Good job, Carmen. You almost got me good. Is that what Alice said?"

"It was in one of her nightmares," Renee clarified. "She had to sleep with Charlie and I a few nights in a row after that,"

"Well, do you think it's really true?" I asked.

"No! Ghosts aren't real," Carmen assured me. "It's just a scary story, Esme,"

"What do you wanna do now?" Charlotte asked.

"Prank call Heidi," Siobhan said, giggling. "It's what she gets for bad mouthing me and Renee about being mothers before we're married,"

"Oh, this will be fun!" Sarah said joyfully and clapped her hands.

Sue had sort of a deep voice, so she could mimic a demonic one. She dialed Renee's house phone which was in her room, and called Heidi. She put it on speakerphone so everyone could hear the squeaky voice at the other end. We muffled our giggles with our pillows.

"Hello, may I ask who is calling?"

Everyone breathed in and out noisily, and Heidi spoke again. "Who is this? Say something!"

"It's your worst nightmare. Never bother Esme or her friends again or you will get it," Sue growled.

"What will I get?" Heidi squeaked.

"A free ticket to Hell, with the devil as your boyfriend, and you guys will fuck like animals!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH! Mommy, help me!"

Sue slammed down the phone and we were all holding each other, shaking with laughter.

"What is that dreadful noise?" Renee asked, and we turned to the window where the wind was howling, making the trees sway left to right.

"It's just the wind," Carmen said, shrugging. "I hope the weather clears up for tomorrow,"

"It's starting to rain. It's coming down really hard," Charlotte agreed.

"Maybe it will stop. The moon shines every night, making the backyard light up at my house," I chimed in.

"This is perfect for our chilling sleepover. You're lucky you didn't get caught in that rain, Esme," Siobhan told me.

"Yeah, I know. It rained while I was there, and it let up when I left, and here it is again,"

"Weird. It's like the heavens love you, Esme, and don't want to rain on your parade," Sarah thought aloud.

"It must be a light summer rain," I decided.

"You're right. We're just being silly," Sue rolled her eyes.

"Let's raid the refrigerator!" Renee announced, and we all clambered down the steps. She opened her fridge and we went wild. I got some oreo ice cream sandwiches out and the other girls got treats like cookies and candy. We carried it all upstairs and ate while watching television in her room. We laid our sleeping bags out in a circle and got ready for bed. When we were laying on our pillows, we fell asleep at midnight.

The next morning, we had a delicious breakfast of waffles, strawberries, and whipped cream. Alice, Bella, and Emmett were all excited to see us again, and Charlie greeted us happily. I got home with my stuff and started getting ready for the pool party. Luckily, it was a warm and sunny day. I put my hair in a half pony, slipped into my purple tankini, put my blue summer dress on over it, packed my beach bag with my towel and goggles, and put my white flip flops on. I put some makeup on just for Carlisle and was all ready to go. Lastly, I put my sunglasses on. Mom and Eric were still helping Edward, Bree, and Vera get ready, and soon, we were driving to the pool party at the mystery house. I knew I couldn't ever tell my family about Charles being creepy, because he'd wormed his way into my mother's heart, and I knew Eric would like him too. He was also being friendly with Carlisle and his friends and only appeared weird to me. Even my friends had gotten over the fact that he was even a slight bit creepy and laughed about a scary story that was based on Alice's nightmare about him. Only Lily knew about his true colors, but we couldn't tell a soul, because everyone would think we were crazy, when Charles was just pulling the wool over their eyes. Even his little girl was fooled. The kids said it was a haunted house, but nobody but me actually believed that.

I had to get to the bottom of this secret, and I wasn't backing out of this thriller or brushing it off as a joke, because it was real. Something _had_ happened inside that house, and I was determined to find out exactly what went on.

**Please read and review! Thank you to reviewers TeamCarlisleandEsme8, Just4Me, LaurenFacinelli, k8lin713, cuddyannie, and that kiwi chick! Yay! Many reviews per chapter keep it up!**


	10. Making a Splash

Carlisle POV:

Today was the day of the pool party! I was so excited, so I got up a little earlier than usual, around eight, and started packing my towel, goggles, camera, and extra change of clothes. I put on my favorite blue swim trunks with a white stripe down one side and put on a long black shirt. I threw my sunglasses into my bag so I wouldn't forget, and then got Jasper and Kate up so we wouldn't be late. I helped them get their stuff ready, and Jasper was wearing black swimming trunks and Kate had on her green bathing suit. She was still shy to wear even a tankini, although Garrett would be there. The other reason was that Dad would throw a fit if she had any skin showing in a tankini or bikini until she was at least in high school. We wanted to make Dad breakfast in bed to calm him down from yesterday's tension that the Umbridges created. I hoped they wouldn't be there today to cause drama, but if they were, I would blame it all on Dad for telling them about it. I doubted they'd show up, because they would be the only religious freaks there, besides my father.

"Carlisle, we should make him scrambled eggs with toast," Kate said, and I was jolted from my thoughts.

"Right, sorry. Come on, guys," They followed me down the stairs and into the kitchen. Jasper got four eggs, one for each of us, and we cracked them into the bowl so the yolk could be scrambled. I started the burner under the black frying pan while Kate mixed the egg yolk together. She put it all into the pan and let it fry. I put two English muffins in the toaster and when they came out, I buttered them and spread jelly on top. Jasper put the eggs on a plate with the spatula and I added the muffins. We ate our food and then gave the rest of it to Dad. He was in his bed, spread out across the whole thing.

"Good morning, Dad," I greeted him.

He yawned and then his eyes widened when he saw all the food. "Oh my goodness, you kids outdid yourselves," His eyebrows raised suspiciously. He was onto us. "What do you guys want?"

"Nothing," Jasper said innocently.

"Just apologizing for our behavior towards Mrs. Umbridge and her daughter yesterday," Kate explained.

"Oh, you guys didn't need to do that, but thank you anyway. It looks tasty. I love you guys," He started eating it with ketchup just as we had done, and we said we already ate. Later, he got ready for the pool party. He was wearing yellow swim trunks and a white shirt. Altogether, we proceeded to the party with our bags in hand. Lily and Charles were there to greet us. They were already in their swim gear, and we were apparently the first ones there. They never told us a time, so we assumed it was between ten and noon. It was already hot, and Jasper and Kate wanted to swim badly.

"Hi, Carlisle. Rosalie's out back. It's our first time using this pool because we just got it installed," Charles said. "This must be your father. I recognize Jasper and Kate,"

"Yes, Charles, this is my father, Mr. Cullen. Dad, this is Mr. Evenson, but he said we can call him Charles,"

"Ah, yes, Charles, you are welcome to call me Edwin," My dad shook his hand and then Lily introduced herself.

"Hi, Edwin, my name is Ms. Hale, or you can call me Lily if you want...or Lilian," She twirled a blonde lock of hair around her finger nervously while biting her lip.

"I like Lily," My dad held her hand for a little bit too long, so Charles pulled her away from him and led us all into the backyard. Rosalie was already jumping in the pool and then she climbed back out to give us all hugs. Lily, Charles, and my dad sat poolside and talked while I swam a few laps, enjoying the coolness against my hot skin. Kate, Jasper, and Rosalie were playing with a basketball and a hoop on the side of the pool and enjoying the slam dunks into the water.

"Hey, don't you guys need to be out there to show everyone where the pool is?" I wondered aloud.

"It's fine, son. All they need to do is knock, talk, or ring the doorbell, and I'll hear them," Charles answered. With that, he turned on a CD player and it started blasting out music. Some of the lyrics were swear words, but my dad pretended not to care, and I didn't mind if the little ones heard it because they'd heard it on the radio or in school before. Lily and Charles started freak dancing, and I tried not to watch them.

"Hello?" a voice called out, and they both got the door. Seconds later, I saw Carmen, her sister Angela, Charlotte, her brother Garrett, their parents, and Peter. Garrett dived into the pool, splashing Kate purposefully She laughed, and then more people from their class showed up, like Emily, Sam, Jacob, Paul, Rachel, Jared, Kim, Rebecca, Leah, Seth, and Emily's baby cousin, Claire, and Jared's baby brother, Quil. Sue, Harry, Billy, and Sarah came through the gates with Siobhan, Liam, and Maggie. The babies were put in life jackets and their mothers swam with them in their arms. The middle schoolers played chicken a few times. It was Kate and Garrett against Emily and Sam, or Jacob and Leah versus Paul and Rachel or Jared and Kim. Everyone let each other win, and pretty soon, I saw Renee and Charlie.

"Last one in's a rotten egg!" Alice shouted, and Emmett and Bella raced with her to get into the pool first. There were three ripples in the water, with Emmett going down under the furthest. They all plugged their noses and were now coming up while breathing hard. Charlie guided Renee into the shallow end of the water and they were cuddling and leaning against the edge of the pool, dry humping, I assumed. Siobhan and Liam were playing with little Maggie, and Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, Jasper, Bella, and Angela were taking turns jumping into the pool and screaming so loud I could barely hear the music. Leah and Seth were fighting over a rainbow colored float chair, and it turned out they were both able to fit on it. Carmen and Eleazar were making out on a yellow chair floating around the pool and Charlotte and Peter played chicken with Sarah and Billy. Harry and Sue were poking Leah and Seth, and they all fell off the chair, laughing. When almost everyone was there, Lily and Charles went inside to get chips, and my dad helped them. Esme was still not there, and I was lonely without her. My friends were great, but she was special. While I waited for her, I put Jasper on my shoulders and Charlie put Emmett on his shoulders. The two fought, but Emmett won, because he was the strongest boy out of all the kids. I kicked Charlie aside and Renee cackled with delight.

"Get Alice up there and I'll win," I told him smirking.

"No, man, she's too little!" Charlie protested.

"Relax, he won't hurt her. Jasper, get over here again, you're gonna pretend to fight Alice off Charlie's shoulders,"

Charlie grabbed a squealing Alice and I bent down so Jasper could climb up on my shoulders. He and Alice held hands and she tried to beat him with all her might, but he still got her down in a very gentle way. It barely made a splash. Charlie and Renee were amazed, and they congratulated me for my brother being so delicate with her. "It's because he loves her," I explained. They both swam on their backs away from us in synchronization.

"Awww," both parents cooed.

"Hey, I never met Esme's friends," Lily said abruptly.

"Oh, yeah, you're Rosalie's mom, right?" Renee asked.

"Yes, my name is Ms. Hale, but please, call me Lily,"

"Hi, Lily! Hey girls, get over here and meet Rosalie's mom!" Renee yelled, and Carmen, Charlotte, Siobhan, Sarah, and Sue joined her and introduced themselves to Lily.

"It's very nice to meet you girls," Lily said, smiling and walking back to her lounge chair between Charles and my father. They continued talking to Charlotte's parents until Esme showed up. I volunteered to let her in, and Rosalie's parents thanked me. I had no problem getting her. I saw her right away by the front porch, in a blue summer dress and white flip flops with a half pony in her hair and sunglasses atop her head. God, she looked amazing and the way her captivating curls bounced as she walked really turned me on.

"Hi, Carlisle," she said. I saw Anne, Eric, Edward, Vera, and Bree behind her, and she gave me a hug.

"Hey, Esme. The party's in full swing, but it wasn't the same until you got here," I said, making her blush and giggle.

"Oh, thank you. Why are we always late to everything?"

"It's okay, I'm just glad you're here. They never told us a time, so I think we needed to be here between ten and noon,"

"I'm fine then," she shrugged while setting her bag down on the ground and taking her dress off slowly, torturing me without even meaning to. She looked extremely hot while doing so, and I tried not to stare, instead focusing my attention on the little girls begging for my attention. She took her sunglasses off her head and set them down inside her bag while fully exposing her little ass in my face, covered up, of course, but still form fitting. I was glad I had baggy swim trunks to hide my boner. Oh, and she had a huge cleavage in that itsy bitsy teeny weeny purple bikini, I might add.

Bree and Vera both wanted me to pick them up, so I managed to take the two of them in my arms while they squealed with giggles and tried to get down, but I didn't let them go until I got to the pool. I let them put their stuff down while saying hello to Anne, Eric, and Edward with hugs, and then, I helped Esme put the little girls' floating devices on their arms. They enjoyed the shallow end, and Esme carried Edward into the pool. Once he saw Bella, he swam towards her and they embraced. Right away, Esme got Edward on her shoulders while Carmen got Bella on her shoulders. Renee couldn't carry anything heavier than a few pounds since she was about to give birth to baby Cynthia. There was a huge crowd around them and they were all cheering, and I joined in. Edward let Bella win, naturally, but Bella wobbled too much and fell in the water, and Esme raised her arms in triumph, splashing Carmen away. Her laugh was the most beautiful sound in the whole world. I shocked her by lifting her up and placing her on my shoulders so I could start a game with Eleazar and Carmen. I called for Eleazar to come forth, and he knew immediately what I wanted us to do. Esme and Carmen fought hard above us, but since Carmen was taller and stronger than Esme, I fell down into the water from Esme pushing me down as she tried to beat Carmen as best as she could. "Carlisle!" she groaned, laughing while pushing me away. I poked her until she dove under the water to get away from my tickling her, and she came up out of the water, gasping for breath. Esme swam away from us quickly, left the pool, only to jump back in, splashing around with her friends, playing chicken on Carmen's shoulders against Charlotte, who was on Sarah's shoulders. I watched them with my hands in my pockets. "Go, Esme!" I hollered as she took Charlotte down.

"Oh, silly me! I forgot sunscreen," she said, shaking her head at herself. "Hold on, I'll be back,"

"You can use my sunscreen if you want," I offered.

"It's okay, my mom has some," She got herself out of the pool by hoisting herself up and lithely swinging her long legs over the edge of the pool to get back on her feet.

"Hey, Carlisle, since you're out, would you mind getting the drinks for us? Lily can show you, they're in the kitchen," Charles said to me.

"Oh, sure, man," I got my legs out of the pool while trying not to pass Esme, who I desperately wanted to touch, and followed Lily into the kitchen. My dad followed us, and I wondered why he was so interested in Lily all of a sudden. Mom had just died, and this woman better not be replacing her. Hopefully, my dad had just made a friend. She was prancing around in her skimpy little black bathing suit and Dad, being the Jesus lover that he is, would never fall for a woman like that. At least her cleavage wasn't too huge and her bathing suit wasn't that open like I noticed Mrs. Umbridge's was.

"So, Edwin, is Carlisle your eldest son?" Lily asked, running a finger down his arm. Damn, what a flirt! What would happen if she found out he was a religious freak? She was cheating on her husband! I couldn't believe it!

"Yes, he's a great big brother to Jasper and Carlisle,"

"That's great. He looks like he should be your favorite son,"

Oh, warming up to the possible stepchildren in law now, are we? I thought sarcastically.

"He's very helpful, that's for sure, but when you have more than one kid, you don't play favorites. I love all three of them equally, Carlisle, Jasper, and Kate,"

"Oh, well, I just got Rosie...and my new husband, Charles,"

"Your new husband?" Dad frowned.

"My former husband passed away when my daughter, Rosalie, was three. That was four years ago,"

"Oh, I'm so sorry. My wife died a while ago as well, from a coma and a longtime illness,"

"God, that's horrible. The war took my husband, you know the Iraq war, and my son was killed in the airplane on 9/11,"

"He was a passenger, right? And your husband was a soldier?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"You look young enough to have a soldier for a husband,"

"Oh," She laughed through her sorrowful expression. "Thank you, but I'm thirty-five, almost thirty-six. That's old,"

"Not as old as me. I'm thirty-eight. My wife and I married when we finished college, and we started our jobs when we were both twenty-three,"

"You were the same age as your wife? I was the same age as my husband. We were high school sweethearts,"

"Wow, we have so much in common,"

"Funny, isn't it?"

"Yes," she giggled.

I turned around and pretended I wasn't listening, but I really was as I collected the cans of soda, water bottles, and gatorade and put them into a bucket filled with ice. With my dad's help, I carried it outside and set it down on the ground by the lawn chairs. Anne was talking to Esme, and Lily went over there to join in their conversation. The two ladies shook hands and talked for a while. Esme was lounging with Renee and Carmen for a while.

"Carlisle, you never told me your father was so handsome," Lily made me jump out of my thoughts and I turned around to face her.

"That's because you have a husband!" I said a bit too harshly.

She glared at me. "You know nothing about my life!"

"If you want us to be friends, stop trying to replace my mother!" I scolded her.

"I'm not. I just think your father is a much better man than Charles. I mean, look at him with those girls," she muttered, and pointed to the pool where Charles was tickling Esme as she giggled and tried to squirm away. Her friends were swimming away from Charles and going into the hot tub. They were so lucky they were all couples and could be romantic in there.

"Oh, Lily, he's just having fun. He's a very kind man. Why don't we get to know each other a little better? Come, sit down with me, while my husband talks to Edwin," Anne said, taking Lily's arm and helping her sit beside her on the lawn chair. Anne gave her a margarita. "Here, this will calm you,"

"Thank you, Anne. I guess I'm just being paranoid," Lily sighed with annoyance. I jumped into the water and wrestled Esme away from Charles. I knew she didn't like being tickled by anyone except for me, because I was her best friend. She didn't even let her girl friends tickle her.

"Thanks, Carlisle," she sighed. "Why don't we go into the hot tub? Everyone's in there,"

"All right, come on," I looked behind us and saw that Charles was playing with the kids while the rest of the adults were talking poolside with drinks in their hands.

She alternated between freestyle and breastroke. "They have such a nice pool,"

"I agree. It's so refreshing, but are you cold?"

"A little. Charles pushed me in when I wasn't expecting it, and I got a bit of a shock, but I'm fine,"

"That's good," I helped her into the hot tub and sat us between Renee and Peter. "Hey, guys," I announced.

The rest of the couples stopped their kissing. "Hey, Carlisle and Esme,"

"We just got freezing," Charlotte said.

"Yeah, cuz you were sitting around making out instead of playing with the kids," Esme teased her, and all the girls laughed.

"Hey, you gotta admit, it's fun," Carmen said, and Eleazar chuckled while pecking his love on the cheek.

"It is, baby,"

"Aw," both Siobhan and Liam said as Carmen and Eleazar exchanged a full mouth kiss.

"Well, I gotta sit out. My ten minutes in the hot tub are up. Pregnant, remember?" Renee reminded us and pointed to her expanded belly. She pulled Charlie out with her, and they knelt by us so they could still talk to us.

"I know you're still having fun, though," Sarah said, and Sue agreed, "Yes, it's very cool here...and hot too, literally!"

"It's very hot, indeed. But I got so cold that my skin is turing into a prune!" a deep male voice said above us. Charles stepped into the tub, right between me and Esme. I scooted over to make room and be polite. Maybe he could bring his wife in here so she could sit in his lap. "My wife's over there, busy with the ladies," He jerked his thumb behind us, answering my unspoken evaluation. "And the kids are too busy playing. That's probably why they never want to sit in a hot tub. I understand why you teens want to, though. Kissing...very fun to do,"

"Yes, very fun indeed," I nodded. "Sucks that both Esme and I are single,"

Charles put his arms around us both. "Kids, it doesn't matter if you're dating anyone or not. Just as long as you have a great time, right?"

We both nodded and smiled. I might have said this before, but Charles was awesome! He was even cooler than my dad! He opened the pool just for us and for that, I was glad.

**Please read and review and include what you think is in the forbidden room! Thank you to reviewers TeamCarlisleandEsme8, Just4Me, LaurenFacinelli, k8lin713, cuddyannie, and that kiwi chick! Next chapter is Esme's POV of the pool party!**


	11. Pool Party, Pedophile's Delight

Esme POV:

As soon as everyone was ready, it was almost noon. Mom was in her favorite blue and black swimsuit, Eric wore his black and red swim trunks, Edward chose his army swim trunks, and my twin sisters were looking cute in their bright pink matching bathing suits. I led my family down the street and up to the house where I babysat at. My mom was the only other one who noticed the house because she dropped me off here my first night of sitting for Rose. I knocked on the door because even though I could hear the fun, I didn't know how to get to their backyard. I didn't even know they had a pool! A few minutes later, my angel appeared. He was looking dashing with his hair all wet and his chest without a shirt just made me want to faint. His blue eyes were enchanting and I stared at him, glad I pushed my sunglasses up on the top of my head so I could see him better. God, he looked like a hunk!

"Hi Carlisle," I began, hugging him.

"Hey, Esme. The party's in full swing, but it wasn't the same until you got here," I felt my cheeks warming up and I laughed, very embarrassed.

"Oh, thank you. Why are we always late to everything?"

"It's okay, I'm just glad you're here. They never told us a time, so I think we needed to be here between ten and noon,"

I sighed with relief. "I'm fine then,"

Carlisle picked up my little sisters and he helped me put the floaties on their arms. They played in the shallow end and I carried Edward out into the water and started a game of chicken with Bella on top of Carmen's shoulders. Edward tried to let Bella win, but Bella wobbled, so I won. I was so happy, everyone was rooting for us, and then Carlisle lifted me up on his shoulders. I had the most amazing feeling in the pit of my stomach as he laid his hands on my upper thighs. I was so lost in my moment of passion in my fantasy with Carlisle that I didn't even know Carmen was trying to beat me. She was letting me have a chance at fighting her, so I snapped back to reality and tried to push her off Eleazar's shoulders with all my might, but Carlisle's knees gave out, making us both plunge into the water. "Carlisle!" I teased him, pushing him away, and then he tickled me. I wanted to play another round of chicken, so I exited the pool, only to dive right back in, and I got up on Carmen's shoulders and went against Charlotte on Sarah's shoulders. Carlisle got out of the pool and cheered, "Go Esme!" with his hands in his pockets as I beat Charlotte into the water. I had fun playing with my friends and the kids but then I realized something.

"Oh silly me! I forgot sunscreen!" I shook my head at my own stupidity. I had been so busy helping my parents do my siblings' sunscreen that I disregarded my own and I was ashamed of myself. "Hold on, I'll be back,"

"You can use my sunscreen, if you want," Carlisle was kind enough to help me out, but I remembered that my mom had some and told him that. She was talking to Eric so I found the suntan lotion in her bag myself. I slathered it all over my arms, legs, belly, cleavage, and face. I waited for someone to be available to do my back. A few seconds later, I could smell cigarette smoke behind me, and I coughed. I should've known he was going to follow me all around today. Cautiously, I turned around and saw him in black track pants and a red wifebeater. My breath wavered as he smiled at me. Damn it, I thought today was the perfect day and he would only talk to my mom and Eric, but no, he had to bother _me_. So _that's_ why he had Carlisle get the drinks with Lily and Mr. Cullen.

"Need some help?"

"No, thank you," I didn't know how my voice could be so tiny. I swallowed back my tears and tried to put on a brave face.

"But you were putting on sun lotion to protect your lovely body, weren't you? You need some on your back. I don't want you getting a sunburn, my sweet Esme," He took the lotion from my shaking hand and squeezed a drop on his large palm. With his other hand, he lifted the straps of my tankini and started to put it on. I was so uncomfortable under his gaze.

"Hi Charles! Thank you for helping out, but I think I should do this, you know, cuz I'm her mom,"

"Moms know best!" he laughed, and Mom finished rubbing the sunblock on my back while I held up my hair. I turned to face her and put my arms snugly around her waist when she pulled my straps down so my cleavage wouldn't show to the general public. Charles was watching her put it on me. "My word, your daughter looks just like you. I see where she gets her looks,"

"Thanks. Oh and I also came over to introduce you to my husband! Eric, come over here!"

"Hey Annie,"

"Annie?" Charles wondered aloud, sounding interested.

"Only he's allowed to call me that. Eric, this is my friend and Rosalie's father, Charles Evenson, and Charles, this is my husband, Eric and Esme's stepfather. My ex husband was a jackass to me and didn't treat my girl fairly,"

"Oh, nice to meet you," Charles said and the two men shook hands. "Anne, I'm sorry your ex was an asshole. You didn't deserve a guy like that, and Esme should have never had to put up with him,"

"Thank you for your kindness,"

"Eric, you picked a great family to step into. Keep your woman, she's a good one," I cringed as Charles gestured towards my mom, touching her arm slightly. She stroked my hair and I buried my face into her chest once again.

"What's the matter, dear?"

"I love you, Mom, that's all," I squeezed her tightly and then let go. Eric must have seen the light touch done on his wife, because he pulled her in for a passionate kiss, squeezing me between them. My mom was breathless as they separated from each other.

"Thank you, baby," she whispered, I guess to both Eric and I.

"I will always love my wife and kids. Aren't you hot?" Eric asked Charles, and I stifled a laugh. It was ninety degrees out!

"Do-do-do-do-do, do-do," I hummed under my breath.

"Shave and a haircut, two bits," my mom responded and a nanosecond later, Charles repeated her.

My mom threw her head back and laughed out loud.

"You okay?" Eric asked him.

"Nah, man, its all cool! Come meet my wife, Lily!" They walked away from us, I let out a huge exhale, and I stole a glance at Lily, who was talking to Carlisle and flirting with Mr. Cullen. That's when I decided to introduce my mom to Lily.

"Hey Mom, see that woman over there talking to Carlisle and his dad?"

"The blonde one?"

"Yeah, that's Rosalie's mom. She's really cool. Here she is," I murmured as she walked up to us. "Hey, Lily, this is my mom, Anne, and Mom, this is Ms. Hale, Rosalie's mom,"

"But you can call me Lily," Lily said warmly, shaking Mom's hand. "Nice to meet you,"

"You too,"

Lily smiled. "We're the same age, as Esme says,"

"If you're over the hill-"

"Who's over the hill? Thirty-five isn't old, Mom!" I interrupted her and then laughed.

"Oh, my precious little girl...see one of the reasons why I love her?" Mom held me securely against her chest and stroked my hair.

"Awww, you girls are so cute! So, Charles introduced me to your husband and he said Eric was Esme's stepfather,"

"Yes, because Esme's birth father was a nasty person to us both, especially to Esme,"

"Wow, I never knew. I hate people who don't like their children. Charles is Rosalie's stepfather but for a different reason," Lily started explaining the story to my mom and at the end, Mom hugged her and said "I am so sorry,"

I sat on one of the chairs next to Renee and Carmen."Hey girls, I'm waiting for my sunblock to soak into my skin,"

"Aaah, I'm just getting a tan," Carmen sighed, flipping over from her stomach to laying on her back while putting on her sunglasses and adjusting them until they were just right on the bridge of her nose.

"I'm giving my little nudger a rest," Renee said with closed eyes.

"Well, I'm going in!" I heard Charles yell. I saw him rip off his shirt and throw it on one of the chairs, which was Renee's, and it landed on her stomach. She yanked it off her immediately. Charles kicked off his heavy pants, revealing a very tight speedo, and the pants fell over Carmen's face.

"Get it off!" Carmen freaked, fanning herself. I picked the pants off with my thumb and index finger, not wanting to touch the pair of nasty smelling track pants.

"Eeewww, why did he do that? His whole stomach is hanging over his speedo like a beer gut, he's got man boobs, and he almost looks naked!" Renee pointed out as he jumped into the water.

"I guess he's trying to make a good impression by not being too creepy but its not working!" I concluded. "He looks so gross!"

"I know! I wonder how an old, fat guy like him got a nice skinny girl like Lily to fall for him?" Carmen asked, and I giggled.

"I have no idea,"

"Oh, well, we're gonna go into the hot tub, are you coming with?" Carmen asked.

"I might in a while," I said while getting up and putting my goggles back on. I was about to do a neat dive into the pool, but I was pushed from behind roughly and the frigid water surprised me. I was frozen solid. I tried swimming to the shallow end to play with the kids, but Charles held me by the waist, pressed his dirty, saggy skin to mine, and dragged me towards Charlotte and Peter, who were making out, and started tickling me, holding me underwater. I started laughing uncontrollably even though it felt weird and Carlisle was the only one who had my permission to tickle me. Water filled my lungs and I could barely breathe while trying to cough. Charles lifted me up out of the water so I could gasp for air but then he pulled me back down again. He copied everything I did in the water like somersaults and handstands and then went back to tickling me nonstop. I could feel the tears flowing down my face, filling my goggles.

"Charles, please stop," I tried to tell him.

"Getting a little territorial, aren't we?" he sneered and then started at my belly again, worked his way up my sides and then my armpits, enjoying what he was doing. "Take a look at this," He pulled down his trunks and I closed my eyes so I wouldn't see it. It was disgusting!

"No," was all I was able to say but then strong hands twisted Charles' fingers off my flesh and I was soon out of his grasp. Carlisle was now carrying me with my arms around his neck, clinging myself to him. I wiped my tears away in the water and I was glad he wouldn't notice I was crying. My heart was beating hard against my chest and I took a deep breath.

"Thanks, Carlisle," I sighed. "Why don't we go into the hot tub? Everyone's in there,"

"All right, come on," Carlisle looked behind us and saw that Charles was playing with the kids while the rest of the adults were talking poolside with drinks in their hands. I alternated between freestyle and breastroke. "They have such a nice pool,"

"I agree. It's so refreshing, but are you cold?"

"A little. Charles pushed me in when I wasn't expecting it, and I got a bit of a shock, but I'm fine," I lied straight through my teeth.

"That's good," He helped me into the hot tub and sat us between Renee and Peter. "Hey, guys," Carlisle announced.

The rest of the couples stopped their kissing. "Hey, Carlisle and Esme,"

"We just got freezing," Charlotte said.

"Yeah, cuz you were sitting around making out instead of playing with the kids," I teased her, and all of us girls laughed.

"Hey, you gotta admit, it's fun," Carmen said, and Eleazar chuckled while pecking his love on the cheek.

"It is, baby,"

"Aw," both Siobhan and Liam said as Carmen and Eleazar exchanged a full mouth kiss.

"Well, I gotta sit out. My ten minutes in the hot tub are up. Pregnant, remember?" Renee reminded us and pointed to her expanded belly. She pulled Charlie out with her, and they knelt by us so they could still talk to us.

"I know you're still having fun, though," Sarah said, and Sue agreed, "Yes, it's very cool here...and hot too, literally!"

"It's very hot, indeed. But I got so cold that my skin is turing into a prune!" a deep male voice said above us, one that made my skin crawl. Charles stepped into the tub, right between me and Carlisle. I scooted closer to Carmen, but Charles' naked side was still touching my hip and making me have a queasy feeling in my belly. "My wife's over there, busy with the ladies," He jerked his thumb behind us. "And the kids are too busy playing. That's probably why they never want to sit in a hot tub. I understand why you teens want to, though. Kissing...very fun to do,"

"Yes, very fun indeed," Carlisle nodded. "Sucks that both Esme and I are single,"

Charles put his arms around us both, and I shivered even in the heat. "Kids, it doesn't matter if you're dating anyone or not. Just as long as you have a great time, right?"

We both nodded and smiled but I had to fake it and hold back my tears. I tried looking at Lily, but she was busy with my mom.

He brushed his fingernail against my side and I sucked in a gasp. A giggle came out before I could even stop it.

"Dude she just likes to be tickled by me," Carlisle said all of a sudden, sounding alarmed, and Charles stopped what he was doing.

"Alright, sorry man, I didn't know," he apologized while dipping his finger down my bottoms and trailed his dirty fingers up and down inside my butt crack. I was about to pee myself, but when Charles sighed in pleasure, Eleazar gave him a weird look. "Thinking about your wife again?"

"Oh yeah," he muttered and took his hand out of my suit. He tried to hold my hand underwater and make me grab his boner, but I pulled it away and hugged Carmen around her waist so I could get every part of me away from him.

"Oh, Esme, I love you too, girl!"

"Well, folks, I'm burning in here, so I'll be taking off..." Charles finally stalked away, and I relaxed and let myself drift to Carlisle's side.

We had hot dogs for lunch and a while later, my mom called me back inside the house, needing help with getting the ice cream for everyone. I slipped out of the hot tub and walked through their back door with my we were in the kitchen, I felt someone's presence directly behind me, and Mom dropped the spoon she was holding so it clattered to the floor. She jumped and turned around. "Oh! It's just you," she said, putting her hand to her heart.

"Nice running into you ladies. I need a moment alone with Esme, and my wife really wanted to talk to you some more,"

"Oh, that's fine," Mom left and I heard the back door close. I put the bowls of ice cream down and dared a look. I jumped when I saw the dreaded man. "Oh! You scared me!"

"Esme, my precious..." He came closer to me and put his sweaty hand on my jaw while he stroked my cheek with his thumb. "You have such smooth skin," He licked his lips and his monstrous eyes darkened with lust. My eyes burned with tears that were threatening to spill.

"Don't touch me, I-I'm only fifteen," I said in a voice much shakier and softer than I meant it to be.

"You're mom's a pretty little thing, but you're even lovelier than her. You look like you're in your twenties. I mean your lips are so full and luscious, you're very sexy, your tits are smoking hot in that little tankini you got on, I can almost see them, and your ass is totally spank-able. I wonder how many boys, or men are lusting after you, wanting to make your pussy wet and soaking through your panties. Oh, fuck...shit, don't tell anyone I said that. I'm just high and I didn't mean it. I'm sorry, that was terribly rude of me,"

"Can I please just bring the ice cream out to the party? It's melting," I couldn't stop myself as I gulped, self-conciously covered my arms over my exposing top and backed away from him all the way to the counter while I was vibrating and frozen stiff. I choked on my oncoming sobs, sniffled, and hiccuped a few times.

"Forget the ice cream," he said in a raspy voice. He lifted my face to meet his. "Look into my eyes for five minutes, darling,"

"No!" I could barely speak, so it came out as a squeak. I looked down as best as I could.

"I'll kiss you anyway," I squeezed my eyes shut as hot tears trickled down my cheeks and dripped off my chin. I was saved when the door opened and Lily stormed in, her blue eyes blazing with anger.

"Get the fuck away from her, Charles!"

"Lillian, I was only talking to her, and now I'm gonna jack off. Now shut your fucking trap, you stupid, selfish whore!"

Lily brought out the drink she was holding behind her back and poured it on his head so it dripped down his face and into his eyes. He screamed, "Aaah! It burns!" and crashed to the floor. He tried getting up, but Lily kicked him in the nuts.

"You're a lying, cheating bastard. Go jack off and fuck yourself, idiot!" Lily reached around him to get the ice cream and pulled me with her. "Are you okay, baby?" I collapsed once I got out the door and she let me go. I nodded.

"Thanks, Lily, I'll be fine," Wiping away my tears, I crawled to the pool's edge, got into the water, and blew my nose when I was under. Carlisle was on one of the chairs, watching the whole thing.

"Esme, what's wrong?"

I came up from the surface. "It's nothing,"

"Well, come on, don't you want some dessert?" he asked. "Take my hands,"

"Thanks," I said, and with all his willpower, he lifted me out of the water with both his strong arms.

Everyone was eating their ice cream sundaes that Lily was passing out with delicious whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles. I ate mine so he couldn't talk to me anymore and I wouldn't have to give him any lame excuses. I thoroughly enjoyed the Oreo ice cream with the bananas and toppings.

I wanted to let him be buddy-buddy with Charles because he deserved another guy friend. When he was about to say something else, Renee gasped and let out a loud scream. "OHHH! The baby's coming!"

That's how the party ended. Thank God Charles didn't come with us. He was too busy hiding his sick self in the bathroom. When people wondered where he was, Lily simply explained that he got heatstroke and had to take a cold shower. That was halfway right. He was perving after me, but no one was aware of that.

But only she and I knew the whole entire ugly truth.

**Thank you to reviewers k8lin713, Just4Me, LaurenFacinelli, cuddyannie, that kiwi chic, and TeamCarlisleandEsme8! Prepare yourselves for some drama filled chapters in the coming months! School started Monday so this is the last daily post...I'll try to update at least once a week. Peace out dudes!**


	12. New Baby and a Story

Carlisle POV:

There was a huge puddle on the ground as Renee fainted into her husband's arms. It was extremely hectic as everyone was trying to quickly get their stuff and take off. The Swan children ran after their parents and jumped into the car as Renee and Charlie zoomed away. Esme grabbed her mom's hand and was out of sight as her mother pulled her along with the rest of her family. Every family got into their respective vehicles, but since Lily couldn't drive and her husband passed out from heatstroke, Dad offered to take her and Rosalie. Naturally, she agreed happily. I was crammed in the backseat with the kids while trying to put my shirt back on. I helped the others after getting myself situated.

"Is Charles gonna be okay?" Dad asked Lily, concerned. I was wondering that myself. What if he fainted in the shower while he was trying to cool off? He was a very heavyset man and his excessive weight combined with the fact that he just got overheated could possibly lead to terminal illness or death.

"Oh, don't worry, Edwin. He'll be fine. He's always getting these little spells, but he never faints. He's a strong man. He can lift two-hundred pound weights without getting tired or sweating too much. He just gets overheated when he's out in the sun too long, or in that stupid hot tub, and he never drinks anything, not even soda, just plain old alcohol,"

"Maybe that's the reason why he's so weak looking. Has he gone to a doctor lately?"

"Yeah, but nobody's said he's weak. He showed himself off in the speedo. I told him not to do that, but he did it anyway. He tells me he's proud of his obesity, but I said, 'get rid of that beer belly or I might have to pop it myself and see all the food that comes out! And if you got bigger boobs than me, I'll start calling you _Charlotte_ Evenson instead of Charles Evenson,'" I saw Lily rolling her eyes in the mirror and my dad was laughing out loud. He looked over at her chest, got distracted, and swerved a little. It was only when Kate, Jasper, and I all shouted, "DAD!" that he got himself back on track.

"Oh, Lily, you diverted my attention from the road! You remind me so much of Elizabeth. Not only do you look like her, but you act like her as well. She would always find a way to make me laugh, even when I was in one of my darkest moods. She was my sun,"

"That is so touching. You're a spitting image of William, and I swear, I see his personality in you. You seem like you're the kind of guy that would jump into a burning building to save the woman he loved. A knight in shining armor, in other words,"

"Thank you, Lily. You're a very kind lady,"

"As are you,"

"Hey, what if Will and Elizabeth got together in heaven? Kinda like Pirates of the Caribbean, eh?" I wondered aloud. Jasper and Kate hi-fived me.

"I'm sorry about my son. He's got a bit of a smart mouth," Dad muttered, but Lily started giggling.

"Come on, you have to admit he was very clever for saying that. We miss our deceased spouses dearly, but would you respect it if Will and Elizabeth started dating up in the sky?"

"Yeah, I would want my wife to be happy,"

"Same goes for my husband. You're much too tense. You need to relax,"

Lily was right. Dad was gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were white.

"What's wrong, Dad?" Kate asked.

"Yeah, Daddy, what's the matter?" Jasper repeated his sister.

My father unclenched his jaw from gritting his teeth so hard. "I'm driving my children to see a woman give birth for the fourth time in a row after years of not marrying her husband,"

"Renee is a nice young woman. She and Charlie knew they were meant for each other since they were fourteen. She's Esme's best friend, so something must be good about her," I shot back and gave my dad a pointed look.

"Sex before marriage, especially when you're underage, is unethical,"

"Well, just forget about that part. All the kids look up to Esme as their role model anyway," I assured him. He seemed to forget about it when Lily massaged his arm that was sitting on his knee. He put his arm around Lily's seat and rested his hand on her shoulder. She leaned into his touch and sighed. I sensed there would be a break-up between Rosalie's parents sometime soon. I looked at the little blonde girl who sat beside Kate, not saying a word. I wondered how this was going to affect her. She had now gone through her real father's death and her mom cheating on her stepfather, making her have to have a new stepfather. She was only three, but she probably did remember her birth father. So what if Charles was a fat guy? Lily shouldn't leave him just because he's overweight. My father was slightly a heavier build himself. He didn't have a beer belly, but he did have a tiny bit of a soft stomach. Lily did too, it seemed. I just couldn't understand how they could fall in love this quickly. I guess I would have to be neutral because it was clear she didn't like her husband at all. I thought Charles was nice, but she seemed friendly as well. I decided to give her a chance. As we got out of the car, we rushed to the hospital where cars were starting to park in the huge driveway. Soon, we were walking down long, white hospital corridors until we got to the Labor and Delivery room. I saw Renee in a hospital gown, sitting up in her cot with her legs spread open. Charlie was helping her with her breathing and contractions. Esme was in there with them, watching a miracle take place. I wanted to join them, even though everyone else wanted to wait until she was finished. I knocked on the door and poked my head in. Esme waved me inside. "How's the baby doing?" I asked.

"Doc says Renee's eight centimeters dilated. Apparently, two more until she's gotta push," Charlie reported.

"Ooh ooh hee, ooh ooh hee..." Renee panted to the tune of 'We Will Rock You', or so I thought.

"We will, we will, rock you-"

"Carlisle!" she hissed through the pain. "YOU'RE NOT HELPING!" I shut up instantly. It wasn't a good idea to even tease a woman in labor. Esme hit my shoulder.

"You know better than that,"

"Forgive me?" I asked.

"Don't I always?" Esme rolled her eyes. As I looked at her eyes, they glistened, like she was about to cry. There were some tearstains on her cheeks, and although her voice was bright, it sounded hoarse underneath all the layers of her normal pitch.

"What's wrong, Esme?"

"Carlisle, don't worry about me. Renee is our main focus of concern right now. I want her and the baby to be all right,"

"But you were crying earlier,"

"It's just PMS and my emotions are going crazy, that's all," She shrugged and wiped her eyes. "Besides, I'm crying of joy because another baby is being born,"

I knew she loved babies, and that seemed like a logical reason for her to cry. I just couldn't help looking out for her, like a protective older brother.

"CHARLIE!" Renee yelled, and all of us spun around to face her. Her face was red and tears were streaming down her cheeks. "I GOTTA PUSH!"

"You gotta push...okay, okay...damn doctor is taking too long! Just push, baby, la push that baby outta there!"

"SHUT UP! AAAAAAAH!" Her belly clenched, and she squeezed Charlie's hand tightly. Esme took hold of Renee's other hand, and Renee arched her back as the crown started to appear.

"I see the head!" I called out, amazed.

Another shriek erupted from Renee as the eyes, nose, mouth, and pretty soon, the whole face and neck broke through.

"Come on, you can do it," Esme gently encouraged her best friend. "Come on, big sis,"

"Little sis, thank you!" Renee panted. She let out a third gut-wrenching sound as the shoulders followed and then the rest of the tiny body slid out. When the wailing started, we knew we had a happy, healthy baby. Renee lay back on the bed, totally wiped out and sweating. I got some tissues from the nightstand and handed them to her so she could clean her face a little.

"Oh, the baby...we missed it!" Dr. Gerandy said, shaking his head. "You guys should have called us in,"

"It was too late," Esme explained. "Sorry, sir,"

He called in some nurses to help clean off the baby. Pretty soon, little Cynthia was resting in Renee's arms and she was sitting in Charlie's lap. The two kissed, and Esme and I turned our heads to give them some privacy.

"Hi, Cynthia," Renee cooed to the little girl with barely there black hair. She looked like a miniature version of Alice.

"Our tiny daughter," Charlie murmured.

"Oh, god, she's so cute," Esme whispered. Renee kissed the baby girl's head and handed her to Esme. "Hi, sweet baby girl. Hi, there. I'm Esme. It's nice to meet you. I'm your mommy's best friend in the whole wide world," Esme touched Cynthia's little button nose, and the baby stopped her crying for a second. She started back up again until Esme kissed both her cheeks, her nose, her forehead, and then her bellybutton. It was the cutest thing I ever witnessed. Esme passed Cynthia to me and I bounced her a few times in my arms.

"I was supposed to have a pool party after the baby was born, but Lily and Charles hosted it already!" Renee said, almost regretfully.

"Are you still gonna have one?" Esme asked her.

"I'm gonna be very busy with the baby, you know. You could always help me, Esme, and even take her to Rosalie's house. I know Rosalie would love her. She's so good with babies, I can just tell,"

"She does treat her dolls like they're her own children," Esme agreed.

"I feel sorry for Rosalie, though," I said sadly. "Lily really likes Dad, and he likes her back. It looks like she's gonna dump Charles. I like her, but I like him too. I guess everyone's gonna be in the middle of their fight, and Rosalie's gonna be devastated by their divorce,"

"They're not fighting. Maybe Lily just stopped being interested in Charles," Esme said softly. "Lily talks to me a lot, you know. She's like my mentor, in a way. She's very much like Elizabeth. I would have thought she was a reincarnation of your mom if your mom had died a generation ago,"

"I don't know her well enough to determine that,"

Renee and Charlie didn't intervene because they were busy with their new child.

"I've known her for just a week,and seven years of knowing your mom, those two are a lot alike,"

"I suppose you're right. I can't replace my mom, though,"

Esme put her hand on my arm soothingly. "Of course you can't. But she would want your dad to be happy, and even though Lily would never replace Elizabeth, she would bring love to him and light to his eyes again. Lily's lost her true love too before. Will must resemble your dad a lot,"

"I guess so. Maybe Lily will help my dad see that he doesn't have to be a religious freak," We all laughed at that.

"So, Renee, what brought on that sudden need to give birth?" Esme asked.

"I have no idea. I'd like to blame it on the hot tub and the baby got too hot, but I think it was because Alice was hollering at me to check up on you because of that silly dream she had, you know...and I told her to please stop since it was only a dream, and you're just fine, aren't you?" Renee went on.

"Yes, I am. So you think stress from Alice's constant warning about me made you go into labor a little early?" Esme asked.

"That's right,"

A few minutes later, everyone exited the room to let Renee get her dress back on. Charlie carried the baby outside and all our friends and families immediately fussed over baby Cynthia.

"She's so adorable!" squealed Carmen. "Muy linda bebe, pretty baby,"

"She loves my finger," Eleazar joked as Cynthia grabbed his finger in her little fist.

All the couples took turns holding her, and Lily kissed Cynthia on both cheeks and on the forehead. Then, she gave her back to her mother, Renee. It was different seeing Renee with a flat belly again. I wondered if she would ever want a baby after four painful births, although they were totally worth the discomfort. It was up to Renee and Charlie, though. I didn't want to pry in their personal business.

We all went home, ending the pool party on a good note. Renee and Charlie took their kids to the park, and Charles invited us guys for a night out on the lit up basketball court after eight at night, when he had fully recovered. I was glad it cooled down so he wouldn't get too hot. I didn't know how to tell him Lily was cheating on him with my dad, because that would make him hate me. He was my new friend, and I didn't want us to be enemies.

"So, Charles, how did you meet Lily?" I started. I wanted to know exactly how close they were. I wanted to know why he chose a flirty girl who just picks up any guy she feels like and then dumps him on his ass whenever she pleases, so the same thing wouldn't happen to my dad. I still loved my dad, even though he acted like an annoying Jesus freak.

"Good question, son. Very good question. Sit down, boys, and I'll tell you the whole goddamn story,"

I loved that he swore a lot, just like my Esme. It made him sound cool. We boys sat on the bench and listened to him as he explained it.

"Now, when I first saw Lily, she was a pretty fine girl-she still is-I met her when I was thirty-eight. She was thirty-one and had a cute little daughter named Rosalie. Rose was three. Anyway, I saved Lily. She was mourning over her husband, who was killed. But when I researched him, I found out that he was an abusive drunk! She was faking her sadness, and when I asked her what was wrong, she said nothing. I looked closely at her and spotted a black eye that was slowly fading. As I scanned her up and down, she had bruises and scrapes all over herself. 'I guess I should be grieving over his death,' she sobbed out loud. 'But I'm not, because he hurt me bad, Charles,' She was an easy target for all those bad people out there. Some rapist almost got her, but I beat the shit out of him, knocking him unconscious. Another asshole got a little rough with her, but I stepped in and she called me her hero. I was with her for two months and then we got married. It was a beautiful wedding, and she loved me for being her knight in shining armor. Of course, her daughter was the apple of my eye, and Rosalie has loved Father's Day with me so much more than with her own evil daddy. I love taking her out for ice cream on that special day, and on Lily's birthday, I decided to propose to her. Other years, I have brought her gifts, like expensive jewelry, and other things she's fascinated with. On Rosalie's birthday, I take both her and Lily to Disneyland, and those rides are so much fun. Obviously, the nights with Lily in our hotel room is fun as well, while our dear little Rosie is sleeping. These four years with Lily and Rose have been wonderful, and I hope to celebrate many more years of marriage with my darling wife and steppdaughter. Rosie loves me so much, she doesn't even call me Charles anymore. She calls me Daddy, and I'm damn proud of her for it. If that's not father-daughter love, I don't know what is. As for Lily, well, I love her more than words can express. We're two halves of a whole. The perfect match. You get it. We're also the coolest parents in the universe. We would protect our kid and any other kids from danger because we hate the evil that is done to children in this world. I thank God every day that the kids I know, plus Rosalie, are in safe families and a friendly neighborhood. Also, the domestic violence has got to stop. Some sickos do S&M on their wives, but I would never do that shit. I would never hurt my wife on purpose in any way. I've never cheated on her or even been tempted by other ladies. Lily's the one, and I knew it when I saw her, about to jump off a bridge. I was just walking by her, taking pictures, and I passed her. We got to talking...and now we're back to where I started. I love that family, and they love me!" Charles declared. "Sorry if I'm so loud," he unnecessarily apologized.

"It's cool, bro," the guys murmured.

"Wow, dude, that's so romantic, you saved her," I replied. I would totally do that for Esme. I would shoot anyone who tried to hurt her. Now, I really felt guilty for Charles. Here was a kind and loyal man, and his wife was seeing another man behind his back. Maybe I should wait until I tell him the terrible, sad truth.

A smile curled on his lips as he clapped me on my back. "True that, buddy boy,"

He was going to be in for the shock of his life if I ever told him about Lily and my father. He was going to be so heartbroken. He put the broken woman back together when she was about to kill herself, and she had betrayed him. I had to warn my father before she played the dead husband card on him.

**Please read and review! Thank you to reviewers TeamCarlisleandEsme8, Just4Me, LaurenFacinelli, k8lin713, cuddyannie, and that kiwi chick! And yay my school schedule isn't murdering me quite yet! So I still can update maybe twice a weekend! YESSS!**


	13. Nightmare

Esme POV:

At the end of the day, Carlisle's dad drove Lily home and after hanging out with Renee, Charlie, their kids, and their new baby, I was tired. My family and I ate pasta, and instead of eating it, I just pushed my food around my plate. Although kissing and hugging baby Cynthia made me feel a lot better and hugging Carlisle was the best thing in the whole world, I had just lost my appetite. Charles sexually harrassed me today, and that was really the only thing on my mind. I didn't know whether to crawl in bed and stay there forever, cry, write in my diary, or what.

"Esme, eat up. Your food's getting cold," Mom said.

"I'm not hungry," I mumbled, stabbing a sauce-covered noodle with my fork and holding it up to my lips. My mouth wouldn't even open to let it in. As soon as it touched my tongue that was sticking out a little, I felt like barfing. I set my fork down and laid down on the table with my head in my arms. I was sweaty, clammy, and gross. "Sorry, I'm not feeling too good. May I please be excused?"

"You look pale. You should lay down," Eric noticed aloud.

Mom felt my forehead. "You feel hot, sweetie. Did you get heatstroke as well?"

"No, I think it might be a fever. I don't know,"

"All done, Mommy!" Vera and Bree shouted at the same time, and my head was pounding and felt like it was being squeezed. They never sounded this loud to me before. When I lifted my head to shush them, my whole face was weak. I was dizzy and could barely stand up by myself. I remembered sputtering water, so when Mom offered me a glass of water, I turned it down.

"I might need to lay down," I whispered.

"Oh, my poor baby," she murmured. When I looked up slightly, every member of my family had a twin. I closed my eyes tightly and couldn't open them. My mom helped me up the stairs. I almost crashed to the floor while tripping over the first stair, so since she couldn't pick me up on her own, she asked Eric to hold my feet while she held my arms. Together, they lifted me up in the air and lay me down in my bed. I could barely hear their footsteps, and before I knew it, I had my warm cheek against the cool pillow. I felt like I was about to puke,and luckily, they had put a mixing bowl that was used for a throw-up bin right on my nightstand. I hiccuped a few times and emptied my stomach. The bowl was half full. "Eeewww," I moaned while wiping my mouth with a tissue. I rolled over to the other side and tried to get some sleep. It must have been two hours before Carlisle called me.

"Hello?" My voice sounded strangely different, hoarse, and not full of the excitement I usually had when he called me. I loved talking to him, but I wasn't in the best of moods.

"Hey, Es. What's up?"

I coughed. "Ohhh, I'm siiiick,"

"You sound it. Do you have a cold, or what?"

"I think it's a fever...I'm not sure. All of a sudden, I just lost my appetite and I threw up two hours ago and was sleeping until you rang,"

"I'm sorry for waking you up. You poor, poor thing. I wish I was there to make you feel better,"

My heart swelled. "Thank you, Carlisle, but it's okay. Maybe I ate too much today. You know, there was a lot,"

"Or you could be pregnant," he suggested.

"I wish I could kick your ass for saying that. You know I'm a virgin," I giggled.

"Yeah, just kidding. Hey, do you know anything about Lily?"

"Lily? Why?"

"I'm not sure if she's the right choice for my dad. I'm just wondering if she's told you anything about her personal life,"

"I think she is perfect for your dad, to be honest. She seems carefree and she could get your dad in a better mood. She's lost a loved one too, so she knows exactly how he feels. I don't see why they couldn't be together. They could hold each other together while they're falling apart inside,"

"That Bill-or whatever his name was- was an abuser,"

I was shocked. She'd never told me that. "What? His name is Will, by the way. Lily loved him very much and they were high school sweethearts. He died when Rosalie was three,"

"Charles told me she had a black eye and bruises all over herself...luckily, she had no broken bones when he found her. He found her about to jump off a bridge because her husband had died, but she told him she shouldn't be happy that her husband is dead, but she was, because that Will was a violent bastard, apparently," He paused to hear my reaction. When I didn't respond because I was still in a state of shock, he went on. "Esme, you still there?"

"Yeah, yeah, go on. I want to hear this,"

"Okay, so basically, they married and he loved Rosalie and Lily very much. He told me he would never cheat on Lily and he hated all rapists, murderers, people who do S&M, men who beat their wives, and child abusers. He saved her twice, well, three times. The first when she was about to kill herself. The other two times were when she was about to get raped in a dark alley and beat up for no reason. He takes them to Disneyland for their birthdays and he wants to protect them from danger, always. He's so faithful to Lily that he doesn't even watch porn or get tempted by other women. You still following me?"

"Uh-huh," I said dully. Wow. Charles could fabricate a good story.

"What do you think? He's a pretty cool guy, eh?"

"He has porn magazines under his bed," I muttered.

"They must have been old issues collecting dust. I just feel bad for him that his wife is cheating on him when he's been so loyal to her. He still is. He's my hero. I'm gonna be just like him, Esme!"

"Carlisle, Will never hurt Lily. I swear. And she and Charles have been fighting lately. She accused him of cheating because he's always gone after midnight,"

"Dude! That's when he walks his dog! He walks that thing early morning and night,"

"Right, right," I remembered. "But don't you believe me that Will never laid a cruel hand on Lily when he was alive?" My voice was cold and I bit my lip hard. I hated when I clashed with him.

"You should check with Lily. Just ask her how Will treated her. Look in her eyes and see if she's telling the truth. Charles Evenson isn't a liar, Esme, I can tell you that right now. He tells everything like it is,"

I leaned back into my pillow and covered my eyes with my hand. I could feel tears starting to come out.

"Dude, Lily is very honest. She said her and Charles were having problems. I overheard it myself and Rosalie was crying about it! She missed her old daddy! That shows you that Will never beat Lily! Would a little girl like someone who hurt her mommy? NO! I don't think I want to discuss this with you anymore, because we don't agree on the subject. I hate drama and I don't want to fight with my best friend," I groaned. I gritted my teeth and exhaled.

"We're not arguing, are we?"

"Please, just talk about something else. I'm not feeling the greatest,"

"I'm so sorry, Esme. Forgive me,"

"I'm too weak to stand up to you right now. Fine, you're forgiven. Have fun with Charles and don't worry about what I think,"

"I can't mess with you when you're on your PMS,"

"It feels that way, but I just feel like my head is spinning and I'm too exhausted to think anymore,"

"My poor little sister. I feel so bad for making you angry. I should have never said anything,"

"It's fine...not your fault. I'll ask Lily about Will tomorrow. Anyway, did you have fun at the pool party?"

"I did! Did you?"

"It was the best one ever," Except for when I was almost kissed against my will. "I loved playing chicken with you and the kids and my girls. It was awesome! The hot tub felt a little crowded, in my opinion. What did you think?"

"I thought it was cool when Charles joined us. He just wants to fit in. I don't blame him, I mean, my dad was talking to Lily, and your parents were together. He was bored and wanted to hang out with us,"

"I guess," I sighed. "But we were sitting next to each other, and there were already five couples plus the two of us. I just felt squished, that's all,"

"Their hot tub is huge. It could fit like fourteen people, and since Renee and Charlie stepped out, Charles was able to fit. He's the mass of two people, and he was still okay,"

"Carlisle, I get claustrophobic. I don't think I ever told you that. Sorry, but it was just too overheated in there. I could barely breathe,"

"I understand,"

"I love sunny days! It was the perfect day for Lily to throw a pool party,"

"I know, I agree. I wonder when the next pool party will be. Hopefully, Renee will have one soon,"

And not invite Charles, I added in my head to his spoken wish.

"Yeah, that would be fun," Every time he mentioned that horrible man, more tears ran down my cheeks and my voice was going to crack any second now. I had to get my sleep anyway. "Carlisle, um, I gotta go...I suppose I'll see you when I feel better?" I posed it as a question.

"Okay, Esme, get well soon. Should I make you a card?"

I laughed faintly. "No, that's fine. I'm sure this will pass in a day or two. Good night,"

"Night,"

I shut my phone and dropped it on my other pillow. I fell asleep again until I saw a hazy scene in my head of myself in a skimpy black dress and red lipstick. I was walking to a much taller man than myself. We were in a dark room, dimly lit with candles. He turned around and groped me without even kissing me. "Thank you for giving yourself to me, my darling Esme. You have succumbed yourself to the drug I slipped in your water," This guy didn't have blonde hair and he was fatter and bigger than Carlisle.

"I love you, Charles,"

"Good girl. Now, just come with me, baby,"

"Mr. Evenson, please let me go!"

"You're mine forever,"

I screamed good and loud. I think I was crying, but I couldn't be positive. "Get out of my head! Out!" I bashed my hand on the back of my head and it was so painful that my head started throbbing. "Please, just stop," I whimpered.

Mom rushed in my room at full speed. "Honey, you're awake, it was just a dream, you're okay, you're okay," she tried to soothe me.

"Mommy," I cried. I held onto her hand tightly. "I had a nightmare. Stay with me, please!" I begged.

"Sure, sweetheart. I told Eric that I might have to sleep with you tonight," She climbed in my bed and held me throughout the night. I still felt dreary the next morning. It wasn't even sunny out.

There was a pounding on the door. It might have just been a light tapping, but thanks to my sickness, it sounded too noisy. My mom kissed my forehead and cheeks when she woke up and let Eric get the door since she was half awake. "Good morning, little girl,"

"Morning, Mama," I smiled weakly.

"Feeling better?"

"Just a bit,"

I heard Eric talking with the person at the door. "She's still sleeping. She's not feeling too well. I'll take the flowers and bring them up to her,"

"Oh, that's too bad, man. I'll get going, and be sure to tell her I said thanks for being the best babysitter in the world. She's like no other,"

"Alright, thanks, sir. See you later,"

"Bye,"

My stepdad came up the stairs and into my room. My mom sat up and he kissed her on the lips with the red roses in his hand. "Hey, Esme," he said, kissing my forehead. "Charles told me to give these to you. He said it was for being a great babysitter. They must really love you,"

I felt numb as he handed them to me. "You better put those in a vase, honey," my mom put in.

"Guys, would you please give me some privacy? I have other plans for these flowers,"

My parents nodded and hand in hand, they walked out of my room. Once they closed the door, I cut off the heads of the flowers, threw the stems out the window, and let each dead petal fall on my lawn softly. I hoped they would be crushed by the time I walked outside. I must have slept all day until it got too warm in my bedroom. I got out of bed slowly and walked downstairs, a little out of it. My brother and sisters were getting ready to go for a walk with my mom, and I decided to go with them to get some fresh air. We strolled along past our house when Charles, Lily, and Rosalie came up to us.

"Oh, look who's here! Hey, Platts!" Charles hollered. "We were just getting some ice cream! Wanna come with us?"

I looked down at the ground while my mom accepted his invitation. "Yes, please, thank you, Charles,"

"You're welcome, Anne. You'll be happy to know I am buying for you all," He turned around and winked at me. I took a shaky breath and willed myself not to cry.

"Yay! Ice cream, ice cream, we scream for ice cream!" Bree and Vera shouted in unison. Edward took both the little girls' hands and the three of them skipped down the street. Rosalie kept to herself with Lily, and Charles let go of Lily's hand and walked side by side with my mom.

"You guys go ahead. I want to talk to Lily," I said.

"Okay, sweetie," She ruffled my hair and then I joined Lily and Rose.

"Hi, Rosie!" I picked her up slightly and she squealed with laughter. I set her down while kissing her on the forehead.

"Hi, Esme! How are you?"

"I'm great! You?"

"I'm happy! I love my mommy!"

"Aww! Hey, Lily," I said, hugging her around the waist.

"How are you, sweetheart?"

"He won't leave me the fuck alone!" I hissed in the lowest voice I could manage. "He's even in my nightmares! He gave me flowers this morning and I threw them out,"

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry he did that to you,"

"I was talking to Carlisle last night, and he said that uh...Will beat you up,"

Lily looked horrified and stopped in her tracks. "Will would never do such a thing! He was the most wonderful man in existence! Why would Carlisle say that? I'm in love with his father, but I would never replace his mother. He must know that,"

"It didn't really come from him. I thought you were never abused. Charles told Carlisle this huge made up story about how he saved you from jumping off a bridge-"

Lily threw her head back and laughed. "That's just bull. I was a nurse and he was on his deathbed from overdosing on alcohol! _He_ was the weak one, not me!"

"And you never went to Disneyland, right?"

"Only when Will was alive, he took me and Rosie to the happiest place on earth. Charles keeps us in the dark. And you know-" she leaned down close to my ear and whispered, "he does S&M on me, but he hasn't given me a black eye yet. The bruises are under my clothes, and I think a limb is broken,"

I gasped. "Oh, Lily..."

"I'm okay now...it just hurts to walk. He laid on me the whole entire night. This morning, after he gave you the flowers, he gave himself tattoos, earrings, went to the hairdressers and came home with a mohawk. That's a wig he's wearing, you know. The tattoos and piercings are under his clothes so he will look normal to the general public to throw them off,"

"Oh my god,"

"I'll try my best to keep him away from you, baby, but when I yelled at him and came home from the hospital, he went crazy and started being a psycho. He never been on the S&M kick before, but now, he's got all kinds of weird fetishes. He wants me to eat his shit and other gross things that come out of my body...he even likes to suck my blood. Even when I'm on my period,"

I thought of the image for a second. "Eeewww,"

"Sorry," Lily said when she saw me wince.

"It's fine,"

We had to stop conversing when we got to the ice cream place. My brother and sisters ordered their things and then he asked me what I wanted last. I didn't want to look at him or even speak louder than a whisper to him. I stepped back from him and squeezed Lily's hand as a cue.

"Never mind, Rosalie told me your favorite dessert," he said cheerfully and began ordering me exactly what I loved. It was a brownie vanilla ice cream sundae with whipped cream and sprinkles.

I ignored Charles the whole time and hoped Lily and Rose could run to Carlisle's house to escape their hell.

**Please read and review! Thank you to reviewers TeamCarlisleandEsme8, CarlisleandEsme, Just4Me, LaurenFacinelli, k8lin713, cuddyannie, and that kiwi chick!**


	14. Brothers and Sisters

Carlisle POV:

My phone rang right in the middle of my workout. I was sweating like a pig and breathing hard when I answered it, not even looking at who it was. "Hey, what's up, it's Carlisle Cullen at your service!" I said between pants.

"Carlisle, getting a little professional are we?" the voice on the other end giggled. I knew who it was at once. I was aware of Esme's voice and the way she spoke ever since we met. It was so lovely.

"Yeah...I just wanted to change the way I responded to a phone call,"

"You sound tired,"

"Just ran around the block twice, trying to get my body into shape for next year's basketball tryouts," I said truthfully and trying to impress her at the same time.

"Oooh, I can't wait to see your mad skills," The way she said it pleased me so much that little Carlisle was standing upright. "Anyway, the reason I called was to inform you that Lily told me Will never hit her. They were truly, madly, deeply in love, and it's a heartbreaking story because he died. Also, Lily said Charles has tattoos and piercings under his clothes, and a mohawk under his toupee. Face it, dude, he's having a midlife crisis. You can help him realize that he's forty-two and not twenty-two-"

I interrupted her in pure shock. "He never confessed that to me. I'll confront him about it tomorrow. And to be honest with you, I was sort of doubtful that Will was abusive. Lily told my dad in the car, right in front of me, that Will was like her knight in shining armor!"

"And did he ever tell you that he was recovering from alcohol abuse and Lily was his nurse? That's how they met and the rest is history,"

"No, he said _he_ saved _her_..." I was so confused at this point. I trusted Esme, but who knew if Lily was telling her lies? "You sure he didn't save Lily from anything?"

"He helped her out a lot when they first started dating. She was in mourning, and they fell in love because she thought he was a kind man who cared a lot about her and her daughter. In reality, I guess he got bored with her and wanted his own life,"

I frowned. "Sure Lily's not a fibber?"

"I'm positive. I can even ask for a picture of those two together in the hospital room where they met for evidence,"

"Huh. I suppose he used to be loyal to her but then got sick of it all. Maybe it started when Lily started flirting with my dad. I would get bored if I had a girlfriend and she began to play around with another guy. I would dump that bitch out on her ass!"

"No, no, it was before she met your dad. She's accused him of cheating all the time and she says he never lets her and Rosalie go out, though I don't know why. He doesn't let her drive because he's afraid she'll be tempted. He takes Rosalie to school on his Harley-"

"What the fuck? Who takes a kid to school on a Harley?" This guy seemed immature and I was puzzled as to why he involved himself in dangerous activities. I was definitely going to have a talk with him and get to know Lily a lot better.

"I dunno...but Lily hates it because she's afraid Rosalie's gonna die on that stupid thing,"

"I'll talk to him about it and try to put some sense in that crazy head of his. I hate when people lie to me just to make themselves sound like a perfect person. I really wouldn't have cared if he got sick of Lily, because sometimes, relationships don't work out the way we want them to. That doesn't make him a bad person. That's his choice, and I'm not in charge of his actions. But I'm going to advise him to break up with Lily instead of just fight with her and put her daughter in danger all the time. Yeah, sure, they'd have a divorce, but at least they would both be put out of their misery. But see, on the other hand, they shouldn't split up because think of what that would do to Rosie. She's lost one father, she can't lose another,"

"Rosalie probably wouldn't mind. She would surely love your dad better than Charles, since your dad isn't a bad influence,"

"Well, who says Lily and my dad are gonna fall in love with each other? You never know, Lily and Charles could very well be making up and doing it in their bedroom as we speak,"

"I believe Lily and Charles are donesville," Esme said with a tone of finality in their voice. "I mean, think of it this way. If you had a girlfriend who didn't seem to care about you and she tattooed and pierced herself everywhere and put Jasper or Kate in danger by, say, driving too fast over the speed limit with them in her car, would you stay with her?"

"Most likely not, unless she changed. I would leave her because that's not the kind of girl I would date. What about you?"

"You know my answer. I would throw him out to the dogs. Tattoos and piercings on a guy completely turn me off, no matter what age they are. A mohawk is a definite no. Eeewww! If he touched my child or little sister or brother and put them in a hazardous position, that boy or man would need to protect his precious belongings because he's going down under!"

"Remember that football player you were gazing at from afar in freshman year?"

"Oh, God, don't remind me!" she complained. " I was head over heels when he took off his shirt, but when he threw it in my face and told me to put his sweaty shit in his locker, I backed out of my fantasy relationship with him. I scoffed and was like, 'Dude, you're a supersenior and you have way too many tats and peircings so I won't be doing anything with you because I know what guys like you are thinking. Also, if you even think about making me go into a smelly boys' locker room, I'm gonna do some serious damage on your ass!' You tried to beat him up for me, but I told you it wasn't necessary, and it wasn't, with the death glare you were giving him! He cowered and ran away!" she laughed, and I joined her.

"That man was looking at you like you were a piece of meat! I couldn't help but want to attack him! I'm meant to protect you. You're like my little sister," It killed me that I had to keep lying to myself and not call her my girlfriend or baby girl. Little sister sounded so...casual.

"Awww, thanks, Carlisle, but if you're just next to me, the guy doesn't touch me! Besides, Lonnie didn't stand a chance,"

"Lonnie...the dumbest guy on the team. Couldn't get out of high school til he reached the age of twenty-one, when they kicked him out. Rhymes with Bonnie, Connie, Donnie, Jonnie, Nonnie, and Ronnie. Two are girls' names," I reported, making her giggle. "His life is going nowhere,"

"I know. He's an idiot,"

"Who's life is going nowhere?" a deep voice asked, and I jumped in surprise and turned around to face Charles.

"Oh, dude, you scared me, I was just talking to Esme,"

"Esme? Mind if I say hi?"

"Well, uh, sure..."

"Who is that, Carlisle?"

"Oh, it's Charles, you can say hi to him if you want,"

"Actually, I gotta go. My phone battery is almost dead,"

"Ok, bye, Esme,"

"Bye,"

"Talk to you later, Esme!" Charles echoed, but there was no answer, so I shut my phone and put it in my pocket.

"So, Charles, what brings you into this neck of the woods?" I wondered aloud, and followed him to my porch steps.

"I hope you don't mind, but I had a coffee with your father just now. He looked like a nice man, and I needed some time with a guy my own age. I shouldn't hang out with teenagers all the time, I realize that,"

"It's okay, man. I gotta talk to you about something though,"

"Yeah?"

I cleared my throat and readied myself for what I was about to say. "I was talking to Esme. She told me that Lily said you guys met in the hospital when Lily was your nurse. I don't mean to pry, but is that true?"

"What's it to ya? Why would she say that? Lily's a liar!" His voice sounded rougher than usual.

"Lily also told me that Will never hurt her. Just tell me the truth. I can't have my friends not being honest with me. I don't care if you lied, just apologize. It's also okay if you're getting sick of Lily,"

"Are you sure you're not going to judge me?"

"Yeah, I'm certain, dude. It's your choice what you want to do with your life,"

"I am so sorry, man. Please forgive me. Lily did save me when I was recovering from alcohol abuse, but when she was crying over Will, I took care of her...but lately, we've grown apart. I would feel terrible just breaking up with her like that, but we don't seem to have anything in common anymore. She hates that I have tattoos, piercings, and a Mohawk. I have a midlife crisis, okay? I'm getting old! I hate the feeling. I try to have fun with her daughter, but she doesn't accept it. Also, I've been interested in some women. I do get tempted. I used to be loyal, but lately, I've gotten porn magazines and hid them under the bed. I need help. If your father is really religious, can he assist me into being a good person? I feel like I'm a failure. I just...I'm begging you forgiveness, I didn't mean to do it. I panicked and right now, I just need a friend! I was afraid that the son of a strong believer in God wouldn't respect me for my personal choices and then lecture me about being pure,"

"I'm not a religious freak like my father, and you don't need to be either. Find a happy medium between Jesus lover and cheating husband. It's your decision how you live your life, but may I suggest, if you're sick of Lily, let her drive and don't take her daughter out on that motorcycle anymore, or you might be responsible for her death if she were to fall off. I know that you don't let her go anyplace so she won't get tempted, but it's only fair if you're looking at other women. She should be allowed to date other guys if you're heading for a split anyway. Also, divorce her. Take care of her when she cries over the breakup, be her best friend, play with her kid in appropriate ways, and try to find a woman in her forties instead of mid thirties. That would be better for you. Don't worry, I'm your friend and giving you advice,"

Charles actually smiled. He patted my back, rather hard, but not too painful, and stood up. "Gee, thanks, son. How can I ever thank you?"

"Stay out of trouble, alright?"

"Agreed. We cool?"

"Of course, nobody's perfect. I'll see ya later," I waved as he disappeared back to his house. I hoped everything would go over well. I thought he was nice, but he was a bad influence, so I decided not to be close to him.

I went back into my own house and passed the living room where my dad was watching TV by himself. It was some boring religious movie about Jesus Christ. I recognized it as the Passion of the Christ. For me and Jasper, it was simply stupid and fake. For Kate, it was too gory and she ended up running out of the room and throwing up in the bathroom. I went up to my bedroom and started blasting music. Jasper came into my room and we played a few video games until I realized I needed the video game she was borrowing from me. I could hear faint music playing in her room, and it got louder when I got closer. Her door was closed, and once I opened it, the song that was playing was on full volume, so she didn't hear me come in. It was Kesha, her favorite singer. She was also distracted because she was typing her novel she was currently writing just for fun while singing along to the song softly.

_D-I-N-O-S-A-U-R_  
><em>A dinosaur<em>  
><em>D-I-N-O-S-A-U-R<em>  
><em>A dinosaur<em>  
><em>An O-L-D M-A-N<em>  
><em>You're just an old man<em>  
><em>Hitting on me what?<em>  
><em>You need a cat scan<em>

_Old man_  
><em>Why are you starin' at me<em>  
><em>Mack on me and my friends it's kinda creepy<em>  
><em>You should be prowling around the old folks home<em>  
><em>Come on dude! <em>  
><em>Leave us alone<em>

I knocked on the door. She screamed and jumped a mile while quickly pausing the song.

"Hey, Katie,"

Her head jerked up and she put her hand to her heart while minimizing the window. "Oh! Carlisle, you scared me! Don't do that!"

"Sorry," I muttered. "Anyway, where is that video game you borrowed from me?"

"Oh...um, sure, hold on, I got it," She opened a drawer and pulled it out. "Here,"

"Thanks,"

"No problem. And if you sneak up on me again, I'll kick your ass,"

"Yeah, yeah,"

"I mean it!" she yelled as I exited the room.

"Hey, Jazz, I got it,"

"Yay! I'm so glad we can play now,"

After us beating each other a few times, Jasper turned to me while putting his console down. I did the same because I wanted to talk to my brother.

"How's my little buddy?" I asked while ruffling his hair. He ducked away from me and grinned.

"I'm great. You?"

"Just fine, thanks. What did you do today?"

"Alice told us a scary story today! It was in one of her dreams, but it's not gonna happen! It's just a dream! But the dumb girls actually believe it! They can be weird,"

"What was it about?"

"Basically that a babysitter was stalked by the father of the child she was watching and her ghost is haunting that house...it sounded really confusing," Jasper shrugged. "Everyone called Alice crazy and the guys said it was only because she actually went to that stupid house to spy on it,"

"Do you think she's crazy?"

"Not really, but dreams don't come true, do they?"

"Nope. You should convince Alice to believe that her dream isn't ever going to come true. Reassure her that she and the rest of you guys will be okay,"

"Thanks, I'll try telling her that,"

"Anything for my little bro,"

Everyone had eaten dinner already and it was time for bed. I could hear Kate crying so I went into her room to see what was wrong.

"What's the matter, Katie?"

"It's nothing. I just miss Mom," She swallowed hard. "I need someone to sleep with and I'm really outnumbered,"

"Want me to stay in here until you fall asleep?"

"Sure, but I don't think I can even get myself to calm down. I'm just really upset. You wouldn't understand,"

"Girl problems?"

"Look, I know you miss Mom too, but my issue is bigger. You see-" She broke off into quiet sobs. "Never mind. It's way above your head. I'm not implying that you're stupid, but you just wouldn't get it. You're not a girl starting to...uh, grow into a woman, and er, I guess I'm just not used to...how do you say this? Boys from my school making snide comments about my body...saying that I'm becoming 'quite a woman'? I dunno, I gotta talk to Lily or Esme or some other girl about this. I don't feel comfortable talking about this with another guy, even if you are my insane but awesome brother. Forget I ever said anything, okay?"

"Some pervert came on to you? Is that what you're saying?"

"I don't want to talk about it! It's nothing, I can handle it!"

"Then why were you crying?"

"I told you, it's because I miss Mom and I wish I could talk to her right now. I just need time alone,"

"Katie...you need to tell me when this shit happens. And you don't ever walk by yourself in the dark, you understand me?"

"I know that. I walked past those idiots anyway," she scoffed. "I was walking back home with my girls from a girls' night,"

"Did you have fun?"

"Yeah, I did,"

I turned to walk out of her room and was about to close the door when she said, "Carlisle,"

"What?"

"Thanks for looking out for me," I could see her smile in the dim light.

"It's no big deal. You're my little sister by blood. It's a big brother's duty,"

"That's true. Garrett can take over your job if you ever get sick of me,"

"He and I can share the responsibility, you know. I will always love you and Jasper the same, and of course, Dad as well,"

"I know. I love you too. Good night,"

"Night," I shut her door and returned to my own room. Then, all was peaceful.

**Please read and review! Thank you to reviewers TeamCarlisleandEsme8, CarlisleandEsme, Master of the Boot,Just4Me, LaurenFacinelli, k8lin713, cuddyannie, and that kiwi chick! We're up to 90 reviews...let's try getting to a hundred by the 15th chapter, all right? The hundredth reviewer gets a sneak peek if they have reviewed every chapter! So make sure you do that! Once again, thank you for all your support! This really motivates me as a writer and makes me update faster!**


	15. Total Disaster

Esme POV:

Sunlight streamed through my windows. I was glad it was no longer raining. Although I loved the rain, it was unseasonable weather the few days before. I felt so much better after talking to Carlisle. I hoped he would get that Charles sexually harassed me. He was already getting closer by thinking Charles was a bad influence. Now we were getting somewhere.

"Esme," I heard my mom say, so I turned around. "Darling, I invited Lily and Charles over here for a double date. Rosalie's coming too, so she can play with you, Edward, Bree, and Vera. We'll be downstairs having drinks and watching movies. You're in charge of the kids,"

"You invited Charles over?"

"And Lily,"

"I'm not sure if that's the best idea. They're having issues. Lily is now interested in Edwin,"

"Edwin? As in Carlisle's religious freak father, Edwin? Edwin Cullen?"

"Yes, Mom, _that_ Edwin. And Carlisle and I both think Edwin likes Lily as well. Just don't tell Charles,"

"Well, I just invited them, so we can hope for the best. Sorry, honey. It might be awkward for them, but at least they would know I tried to be nice,"

"Yeah, that's good. When are they coming?" I tried to keep the shakiness out of my voice. I didn't want Charles anywhere near my foyer, not even by the door! There was nothing I could do about it, though. Everyone but me and Lily loved him. They thought he was cool.

"Six-o-clock on the dot," she answered. "Please help me get everything ready. Eric's coming home from work soon, and then they'll be here shortly,"

"Sure, Mom," I began setting the table and got the DVD player set up. I cleaned the wine glasses and set four of them out onto the counter. By the time we neatened up our place, the doorbell rang.

"That should be Eric," We both walked to the door and greeted my stepfather with hugs and kisses. Lily, Rosalie, and Charles came in the house a few minutes later.

"Eric, my man!" Charles bellowed, grabbing him in for a man hug and handshake. He picked my mom up and spun her around. When he put her down, she swayed slightly. The way Lily and Rose greeted my parents was much more appropriate. Lily simply gave them quick hugs and they kissed Rosalie on the forehead before going to eat dinner. Before taking Rosalie upstairs, I spied on the first part of dinner. My mom was slaving over the hot oven while Eric prepared the salad. She brought out a huge dish of meatloaf and Lily got out the ketchup to put with it.

"Ooh, something smells delicious," Lily said, licking her lips. "Here, Anne, let me help you," They both lifted the heavy dish out of the oven and then placed it onto the counter. "Charles, why don't you come and serve everybody?"

"Oh, I dunno...you guys look like you got it. Besides, I'm tired from walking all that ways. Would somebody get me a drink?"

"Sure, what would you like?" Eric asked.

"Whiskey, straight from the bottle,"

"I'm sorry, we don't have that. We have some wine, beer, and mostly margaritas,"

"Just that? That's not enough. Come on, man, get it all! Annie, would you mind going to the store? Bottle of whiskey, that's all. I'll even give you the money,"

"That's too much for one person to drink," Mom said softly.

"I'll bring it home. Don't worry about it. I wanted liver, too. It's my favorite meat,"

"Well, nobody likes that, Charles, just you. So I suggest you shut your mouth and stop treating Anne like a slave or you can go home," Lily reprimanded him.

"Oh, no, it's fine, Lily...he's just exhausted. I don't mind going,"

"See that? She doesn't care, because she actually likes me, unlike you, Lillian!"

"She doesn't want to fight with you,"

"Guys, guys! Please, try to get along. We're a family here," Eric went over to Charles and put a firm hand on his back. "I'll go get the stuff you want, Charles. Anne can stay here and hang out for a bit,"

My mom looked down and blinked a few times. "That's a good plan," Eric walked to my mom, pushed her glasses up on her nose, and kissed her full on the lips.

"Hey, man, come on, we don't got all day. Kiss your wife when you get home, or don't, since she's the reason you're going out,"

"It's my choice," Eric muttered and left the room. Mom leaned back on the counter and folded her arms over her chest. She wiped her eyes with her apron, composed herself, and carried on like normal.

"Sorry, Annie, but it's usually the woman's job to help the man out. That's the way it is in my house, right Lillian?" He came up to her and slapped her butt.

My eyes widened. "Or you could get it yourself, Charles," I said out loud.

"Esme _Anne_! Don't be rude!" Even though she sounded stern, I could tell she was trying not to cry. She was so excited for this, but Charles and his big mouth had to ruin it. I was startled at her tone.

"Sorry, Mom,"

"It's okay, baby,"

"Yes, Esme, listen to your mother," Charles said, turning his head to face me while sticking his tongue out between his middle and index fingers. I cringed and backed out with Rosalie.

"Thank you, Charles,"

I guess she forgave him.

After an hour or so of playing Barbies with Rosalie, Vera, and Bree and Edward playing video games, I had to go to the bathroom. While I was washing my hands, I saw Charles behind me in the mirror all of a sudden. I whirled around and screamed because he was right there! He snuck up here, I decided. Without warning, he grabbed my arm so I couldn't move.

"Please, just let me go," I whispered.

"Why did you tell Carlisle what you were supposed to keep as a secret? Lily told you those things in confidence,"

"She didn't say it was a secret. At least I didn't tell Carlisle what you like doing to me,"

His grip was tighter and the pain intensified, moving towards my wrist now. "That is our business, nobody else's. I have to take a piss. Honey, wanna come with me?"

He released me and I said, "Seriously? I'm out,"

"Get over here," he growled, slamming the bathroom door shut and locking it so nobody could come in. "I've tried being nice...understanding...protective...now, you're gonna get punished," I closed my eyes while he pulled his thing out to do his disgusting business. My forearm was throbbing and when I tried to move my hand around, it was too painful to move. My wrist was hurting as well and bringing tears to my eyes.

"You have no right to tell my mom what to do. You don't get to tell a preteen girl, especially my best friend's sister, that she's becoming 'quite a woman'. And don't you even dare ask my girlfriends nosy questions and creep them out to death. You mess with the people I love, you're going through me. Do you understand me, you pedophile?"

He gritted his teeth as he finished. His face resembled a raging bull and without washing his hands, he groped me and bent down too close to my face. "Listen to me, my love, and listen good. I'm getting old and I still need to get some when they're young and fresh! Get the picture? Oh...that just gave me a great idea,"He stepped away from me and opened the door. "Sext me. I'll send you some of me from the downstairs bathroom. That's the only way I'll leave your peeps alone. All I want is you, baby, but the others are fun to play around with too, including that hot mama of yours. She's so easy to push around. That's what I really like about her. Gullibility turns me on. Fuck, I'm getting another hard-on," He gave me the signal from earlier and I sank down to the floor while locking the door.

I willed myself not to cry. I had to do this, or he would never leave Mom or my friends alone. Slowly, I pulled down my jeans and found his name in my contacts list in my phone. I clicked on his name and pressed 'new message'. I turned the camera on and clicked without even looking. I pulled up my underpants and jeans as fast as I could while pressing send. In the mirror, I started taking off my shirt and positioned myself so he would be able to see both of them. Tears fell down my cheeks the next time I sent the message, and he sent me a message back that said 'Send me your whole body and then your ass'.

I was disturbed and I deleted the texts.

_Send me a naked picture of yourself and closeups of your ass and breasts and vagina_.

My fingers shook as I typed the next message. 'No, please stop sexually harrassing me'.

_If you don't do it now, I'll get you alone and rape you myself._

I threatened to call the police.

_Just do it, or I'll take pictures of you naked anyway and I'll kill you when I'm finished._

I was forced to say 'Ok, they'll be ready soon' while sobbing mercilessly.

_Good girl 5 minutes tick tock..._

I was now completely naked and the dark bruise was prominent against my pale skin. My heart was beating too fast for my liking, but I kept at it to save my own life and others as well. My phone rang, and it was Carlisle, but I couldn't answer it right now. After he called the third time, I answered it. "I can't talk right now!" I explained, on the verge of hysterics.

"Look, something is obviously horribly wrong!" I hung up on him when he said that. I didn't want him involved in this.

To my dismay, I heard the doorbell ring and my mom ask who it was. It was Carlisle, asking where I was, so Mom told him I was upstairs. His feet thumped up the stairs and his fists banged on all the doors while he called my name. I yanked a towel off the rack and wrapped it around myself. The bathroom door opened and I dropped my phone in complete shock and fear. I screamed. "Oh my God! I was just about to take a shower! You idiot! Why did you just barge in on me like that? You didn't even look, did you? You just used your goddamn quarter to unlock it! Don't you dare look anywhere but my face, you fucking pervert!" I growled when I noticed his eyes were traveling down my towel covered body. His eyes snapped up to meet mine as guilt crossed his face. "Asshole," I grumbled.

"OH! I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed, surprised. His expression turned to anger. "Excuse _me_, I just wanted to know what the hell was wrong with you! You were crying! People don't cry when they take showers! And stop yelling at me for things that are out of my control. I was just worried about you, that's all!"

"Just stay out of my life! I'm dealing with something personal, and you're not part of it!" I regretted what I had just said to him, but I couldn't think fast enough and I needed him out, so I panicked. Usually, I wanted him to see me bare, but not like this, when it was forced. I wanted us both to be naked together in a lustful locked embrace, a loving moment in one of our beds. My phone buzzed with a warning and my heart thudded painfully against my chest. "GET OUT!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

"You bitch, we're best friends, and we're supposed to tell each other everything! What happened to no secrets? You know what, I hate that you're keeping secrets from me! What the fuck, Esme?" He left without looking back. It was our first fight. I couldn't concentrate on crying over Carlisle, though, because of that psycho!

I snapped pictures and sent them to Charles so I could keep myself safe from harm. When he finally quit asking me for sexy pictures of myself, I got dressed and went downstairs to find them watching a movie. They must have just started, because Charles sat himself right down next to Mom, so she was sandwiched in between him and Eric.

"Wanna switch?" Eric asked Mom, and she nodded. They traded places, and I was happy for that. I didn't want anyone near that monster, but if he really needed to be next to someone, I would pick Eric, because he wasn't really after the guys as much as the women and girls. I was still crying and wiping my eyes as I walked to the kitchen. Lily was doing the dishes and I was surprised.

"Hi, Esme. I offered to do these. Your mom works hard enough, and your dad is a great guy for her. He supports her...and Edwin takes good care of me. How is his son, by the way?"

The thought of Carlisle walking home by himself, feeling mad and dejected, played over and over in my head, and more tears seeped out of my eyes. "I don't know...we got mad at each other,"

"When he came in here asking where you were? Where were you, by the way?"

"I told him I was taking a shower, and he came up here because he thought I was crying, which I was, but he unlocked the bathroom door with a quarter, and I covered myself up with a towel, feigning that I was about to take a shower, but really, Charles made me sext him naked pictures of myself or he would mess around with all the women and girls in my life and rape me,"

"Forced to send him sexy pictures? Oh my God! That's it, Esme, we're calling the police!"

"No, Lily, don't! You can for yourself, but not for me. I will feel so ashamed and dirty that the pig touched me...and chances are that nobody else will want to patch me up, not when I'm broken like this," I sniffled.

"I can't do it either. I don't want to be filled with him when I have Carlisle's father falling head over heels for me. He's a religious freak, for God's sake, Esme! I'm trying so hard to impress him, and how can I look good if I bore a thousand miscarriages with the idiot?"

"Let's just wait this out," I recommended. "You guys can come with us tomorrow to the ice cream place, the one down the street, and see how he behaves with the women and girls that go there,"

Lily nodded in agreement.

After they left, my mom came upstairs to kiss me goodnight. I was holding in my tears, but she sensed something was up with me. "What's wrong, baby? Talk to me,"

"Um...I uh..." Why couldn't I just spit it out? I was such a wimp! "It's nothing, Mom, don't worry,"

"Okay, sweetie, but remember, I'm always here if you need me," She smoothed back my hair from my forehead. "Good night, angel. Love you," She kissed my forehead and cheeks.

"Love you too. Night, Mom,"

In the middle of the night, I was woken up by some screams and two little bodies cuddling up next to me. I sat up groggily and turned on my bedside lamp to see Vera and Bree's small, scared faces peering up at me. Their eyes were filled with tears. "What's the matter, girls? Hm? What is it?"

"I had a bad dream," Bree cried.

"Me, too," Vera agreed.

"Oh, come here, babies," I put my arms around them both and they snuggled up to me under the covers. "No more scary movies for you, all right?" I murmured.

"It wasn't a movie. It was Rosie's daddy. He came in our room while me and Eddie and Vera and Rosie were playing and he made us cry because he pulled our dresses up and hit Rosie here really hard," Bree's voice was muffled as she pointed to her butt, but I understood exactly what happened.

"I don't know why he did that to us. We didn't do nothing...we were just having fun," Vera sniffled.

I was about to say something in reply but Edward burst into my room. "That guy was the monster who was under my bed!" I got out of bed and he quickly wrapped his arms around my waist and wouldn't let go. "Sissy, help us!"

"I'll protect you guys. He won't come near you," I promised as I felt a tugging on my ankle that felt nothing like a tiny hand of one of my sisters. I tried to pull my foot forwards but I couldn't move, so I shrieked. I didn't want to look under the bed because I was afraid I would see something I didn't want to see. "He just grabbed me," I whimpered. "Get out while you still can!"

The kids looked at me for a moment, terrified, and then scrambled out of my room. I crumbled down to the ground and I was soon face to face with darkness under my bed.

There was nothing except shoeboxes, so I must have stepped inside an open box and it scared me out of my wits. I got back up shakily and crawled in my bed. Something slinked past the window and I heard a shout out there, deep in the forest way out back. I shuddered and tried to get some sleep.

My brother and sisters joined me sometime in the night and I huddled closer to them to be safe. That yell echoed inside my head and all I could see was Charles' spooky face leading me to my doom. "Carlisle, save me," I whispered in my sleep. "You just have to rescue me. I can't do this alone,"

**Show me your love by reading and reviewing! Thank you to reviewers TeamCarlisleandEsme8, IggyPop, Just4Me, LaurenFacinelli, k8lin713, cuddyannie, and that kiwi chick!**


	16. Mall and Movie

Carlisle POV:

I had screwed up big time. Why did I just walk in on her like that? I was so embarrassed, and when she yelled at me, my heart broke. I had to find a way to apologize to her, but what if she never accepted it? If she was hiding things from me, she needed to tell me right now before I lost control of myself and blew up at her. I didn't call her that night. I wanted to leave her alone and give her time to cool off. It was so weird that she was holding her phone and crying when she was just about to take a shower. Something in me let me know she wasn't only about to give herself a shower. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I felt a really strange vibe as I burst through the door of her house. I called her just to see what was up, but she answered me in a frenzy and hung up. Nobody does that when they're simply about to take a shower. I took in the scene when I first arrived. Her parents greeted me fast but let me go upstairs. They wondered why I was in such a hurry to get to her, but they figured I would take care of it. Esme wouldn't let me. She threw me out. I sadly went back downstairs and saw Lily in the kitchen, washing plates. She explained that she and Charles were over for a double date.

I curiously went to find Charles and found him texting and jacking off through his pants when he was alone in the bathroom. He hadn't pulled down his pants, but I guess whatever he was looking at gave him no time to get them all the way off. He was surprised when I walked by and just said, "Oh, hey buddy!" I nodded my head at him the way guys my age did when they're greeting somebody. He stopped all of a sudden and showed me what he was staring at. "Look at her! Isn't she a beauty?" He enlarged the picture and all I saw was a single white breast with a pink nipple. I wasn't interested, so I just shrugged and left. When I closed the door and walked back home, I wondered why he was looking at porn and wanted me to look at it. It looked like how I wanted Esme's boobs to look. I hated that I would never see them. I had to deal with it.

The next morning, though, she called me. This would either be the ending of a wonderful friendship or a miracle. I hoped for the latter when I answered the phone.

"Carlisle, hi...um, I just wanted to apologize. I should have never yelled at you the way I did...you came in so fast I had no time to think. I didn't mean any of those words. I really hope you'll forgive me but if you can't, I understand,"

"No, it's okay, I started it. I should have knocked first, but I knew you wouldn't answer, and I was so worried about you...I lost all sense and forgot that you were butt naked,"

"In a way, I'm sorta glad you came in and saw me wrapped in a towel rather than another guy. I mean, I trust you because you don't look at me like I'm a piece of meat. Although I was humiliated, you're my best friend forever. Nothing can ever change that. And I know you weren't meaning to look me up and down. I would have done that too if I walked in on you in just a towel, honestly,"

I was pleasantly surprised. "Really?"

"Well, yeah, it's the normal teenage reaction. At least you didn't see me completely bare,"

"Oh, okay...but I have another question. Why were you crying and dropping your phone when I came in?"

"You scared me and I let go of my phone by accident. I was freaking out because I was busy with something and didn't want to talk to anyone,"

"You looked terrified when I ran in there, Esme," Her story wasn't adding up. What would she be so busy with that would cause her to cry? "What were you so busy with?"

She yawned. "Boy, am I tired!"

"Look, if you can't tell me, then it means you don't think I'm best friend material," My heart sunk as I said that, but it needed to be spoken.

"No, no, it's not that...umm, Lonnie was calling me and threatening to hurt me if I didn't become his girlfriend, so I had to hang up on him and call the police. He's behind bars now,"

"Oh, thank God! Well, why didn't you tell me? Has he done this before?" I wondered what else she wasn't telling me.

"No, this was a random phone call. He also sent me a picture of his dick,"

"What an asshole. I'm glad he's not bothering you anymore,"

"Me neither!"

"When I ran back downstairs, Charles showed me a picture of some girl's boob so I walked away. Porn is just not for me,"

"Oh," was all she said. "Do you want to go someplace today?"

"Sure," I jumped when she changed the subject just like that. "Where do you want to go?"

"Let's go to the mall and just walk around until like three or so and have lunch. I'll be ready in a few minutes,"

"So will I. The plan sounds great! What are you doing after?"

"I'm gonna have ice cream with Lily, Rosalie, and my family,"

"Cool, I guess I'll hang out with my family as well,"

"Copycatter," she giggled.

"Aw, shut up,"

"So we're best friends now?"

"Absolutely not," I joked.

"Yeah right, you can't fool me!"

"Hell no, I'm just kidding. We're back and ready to party!" I cheered, making her laugh.

"Okay, see you soon! Bye!"

"Bye!"

I got dressed in a pair of long blue shorts and a black shirt with green writing on it. A few minutes later, the doorbell rang. I quickly got some money for lunch and waved goodbye to my family. I opened the door and there she was, in a short flowy pink skirt and a cream colored cami that showed off her cleavage pretty well. I had to keep telling myself to look up, not down. Her beautiful hair was in two cute braids down to her chest.

"Hey, Esme, nice seeing you again," I greeted her. She held me tight around the waist longer than usual and buried her head in my chest, making herself seem smaller. This was different. She always put her head on top of my shoulder because she was only four inches shorter than me. She had also put on perfume, just like I put on cologne.

"Carlisle," she breathed out. "I missed you so much,"

"So did I. I'm so glad we're best friends again. Yesterday was just a misunderstanding,"

"I'll never let it happen anymore. I just feel really safe in your arms. Sorry if you're uncomfortable with it," She let go and stepped back shyly while she bit her lip. Where was my confident Esme? She was looking down, and she never looked down.

"Thank you, Esme, I'm very happy to hear that. You're wearing perfume, I smell,"

"Yeah, and you're wearing cologne," She lifted her head so her eyes could meet mine. I could gaze into those green eyes forever. She always did this to me. Her cheeks were tinged with a beautiful shade of pink when she noticed me staring into her soul.

"Shall we go?" I asked, looping my arm through hers.

Esme nodded, smiled, and ducked her head. "We shall,"

The two of us walked down the quiet sidewalk in the morning sun. It was slightly cool out, but I knew it would be too hot for either of us to wear a sweatshirt, even in the mall. Esme glanced towards the long alleyway leading up to Rosalie's house and her pace quickened.

"Whoa, whoa, Esme..." I got her to slow down a few houses later.

"Sorry," She was gasping, out of breath. "I just want to get to the mall as soon as possible. You know I love that place!"

"Remember, we still have to catch the bus to actually get to the mall. It's a long walk and the hills are steep. Tell me if you ever get tired," I knew that her feet grew sore if she walked long distances and I was ready to carry her if she needed it.

"Okay, thanks, Carlisle,"

About twenty minutes later, I had to carry her piggyback over mud puddles, snakes, and bumps in the road. She clung on to me for dear life and I made sure she wouldn't slip off by constantly hoisting her legs up on my hips with her arms wrapped around my neck. We were both sweating by the time we got on the bus. "That was a great workout," I was breathing hard as I put her down on a seat by the window. That was her favorite spot, and besides, I didn't want her falling off the seat if the bus driver slammed on the brakes. I sat down right next to her and left no space between us.

"Yeah, for you...you gave me a break twenty minutes in without me even complaining first! You just scooped me up. What a gentleman!"

"I could tell you were getting exhausted. You were so light, just like a feather, so it was easy to carry you. I can read you like a book, Miss Esme Anne," I said her first and middle names in a teasing manner. It made her giggle. "So, what do you wanna do at the mall after lunch?"

"Hm, maybe a movie?"

"Sounds awesome,"

Esme yawned. "The heat is making me tired. Mind if I use you as a pillow?"

"I'm all yours," I was so pleased when she scooted impossibly closer to me and slid her arms around my waist. This was a side of her I'd never seen before. She always had something to say and it was me who constantly had to keep up with her chattering. I missed her lovely voice. I guessed today would be a lazy day for us. Maybe she came down with something like she did last time I talked to her.

"Ow!" she squeaked and flinched while she rubbed her head.

"What's wrong?"

"Someone pulled my hair...actually, that was my fault. I felt my hair being touched or stroked, so I jolted awake,"

"What?" I asked, confused. I never brushed her hair with my fingers without her knowing it. Why would a random stranger make physical contact with her? I turned around in my seat so I could see who was behind us. It was a large gray haired man who was on the verge of balding. He had a long beard and he was stroking it thoughtfully.

"It was probably an accident," she said softly and went back to her nap against my chest. I tucked her head firmly under my chin and held her in place so she wouldn't move too much. I closed my eyes as well because the bumpy roads were making the ride dizzying. She gasped ten minutes later when we were almost there. "Carlisle, did you just squeeze my butt?" she asked accusingly.

"Huh? No, it was some old dude right behind us," I whispered. "Don't look,"

"Can you tell him to leave me alone?" Her voice wavered.

"Not a problem," I gritted my teeth and this time, I turned all the way around. "Sir, would you please let her be?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about, young man. There are no women around us," He tried to look at me like he was blind, but I could see through his lies.

"You just touched my friend inappropriately,"

"Nah, wasn't me. I'm gay,"

The asshole was smirking. He knew what he was trying to do, but he wasn't succeeding.

"I suggest you get away from us now because I can see you can't stop sexually harassing her," I was becoming a tiny bit loud and Esme was blinking back tears. "She's only a young girl. On top of all that, I can see your boner, you old dinosaur," Luckily, the bus stopped at the mall, so I got up and led Esme off the bus.

That's when he gave up. She looked back at him and I followed her eyes. That pervert was giving her the vulgar sign for oral sex. I showed him the finger and pretended to cut my own head off. I pointed to him and stepped off, still glaring daggers at him. Esme rubbed her arms as if she was cold, even though it was stifling outside.

"Come on," I murmured and hoped she'd snap out of it. "You're free from harm with me,"

"Thanks, Carlisle," Her voice cracked as she said my name. "I'm sorry that I'm ruining our time together. I'm crying before the movie's even started," She sniffled a few times but couldn't stop. I kept my arms around her and rubbed soothing circles on her back.

"It's all right, just let everything out,"

We sat down on a bench and she sobbed until her nose was stuffed and her face was wet with tears. I took her to the bathroom and let her go in there to get tissues. She came out a few minutes later and took a shaky breath. "Okay,"

"Are you good now?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Esme wiped her eyes and managed a smile. "Let's go eat,"

We walked to the food court and stood in line. She was behind me and didn't escape from my view. She made sure I didn't go out of her sight. She got lost easily and had to stay with someone in huge places like the mall, for instance. It was time for me to order my food. "A chicken burrito, please," It was one of those places where they made the meal in front of you, so I had to move down the line of ingredients. Esme waited patiently for someone to assist her and then I heard her requesting for a vegetarian burrito.

"Miss, someone is upskirting you," the woman interrupted her as I picked up my plate.

"What?" She looked at the lady curiously and cocked her head to one side. "What does that mean?"

Oh my God. She was so naive. I knew what that word meant ever since Dad explained it to me. It was one of the sins a person could commit and go to Hell for.

"Hey!" I shouted angrily as the man looked up, alarmed. His phone was in his hand and he quickly removed it from under Esme's skirt. He tried to run away, but I caught him by the back of his shirt collar and shook him. He was in his early twenties, I assumed. He was in baggy jean shorts down to his ankles and a long black shirt. A cigarette was dangling from his mouth and he almost gagged on it when I jumped on him.

"What are you doin', punk?" he yelled and shoved me away. "Can't a guy have a little fun?"

"Not with a fifteen year old!" I snapped. I got in front of him and kicked him in the nuts. He fell to the ground as a few people screamed. Esme was watching the fray with wide, frightened eyes. His phone slipped out of his hand and I threw it across the room, making it smash into pieces against a glass wall. One of the workers at the cafeteria came out and pulled us apart. I was still growling, but fortunately for him, he was fit and could run fast enough away from me so I wouldn't give him a black eye. He didn't want to get busted by the cops. That was a smart move on his part.

"Son...what in God's name were you thinking? This is a mall and there are families around,"

"I'm sorry...he started it! That girl over there is my best friend in the whole wide world. I'm just doing my job to protect her from all the evils in society. I lost it when that idiot decided to peek up her skirt. I hate it when women are disrespected like that!" I raved. The man nodded like he understood.

"But the need to get violent?" he asked in a strong Chinese accent. "No fight,"

"I'm sorry, man," I muttered. Our food had gotten cold, so we had to ask them to warm it up again.

"Thank God," Esme cried as I came back to her unscathed. Once again, she wrapped her arms around my waist while I held both our trays. We ate in silence until she spoke again.

"Why did you try to get into it with him?"

"He was looking up your skirt. That's why it's named upskirting," I sighed.

"Eh, he didn't see anything interesting," she shrugged but I knew she thought it was a pretty big deal. She just didn't want to make a fuss out of it.

On the way to the movies, some drunk guys catcalled out to her, "Hey, fresh meat!"

"She's not something to gawk at. Get your own damn play toy," I hissed and we walked faster to the theater. I knew I couldn't leave her alone now, but unfortunately, I had to use the restroom for a second. She slid down the wall and sat there with her arms around her knees. She was curled in a ball until I came out.

She shrieked when I bent down to get her attention and help her up. Then, she looked up at me and rolled her eyes. "You gave me a heart attack! Wow, thanks, I've always wanted one of those," she said sarcastically.

"Sorry," I said as she took her hand off her heart. "When did you start being so jumpy?"

"Maybe I'm overreacting. I don't know what's wrong with me. Most girls don't care when guys stare at them like a piece of meat. It happens all the time,"

"It shouldn't," I stated.

The movie got us both into a better mood. It was a nice comedy with some romance and then it was time to go home. There were no more catastrophes on the bus, thankfully. I dropped her off at her doorstep and gave her a big hug goodbye. She stayed in my arms longer and then let go. I waved at her as she opened the door, waved back, and closed it again.

A strange thing was certainly going on with my favorite girl and I needed to know what exactly happened.

**Oh my god you guys I love you! I got over a hundred reviews! Thank you to reviewers TeamCarlisleandEsme8, xXxSecretSmilerxXx, Just4Me, LaurenFacinelli, k8lin713, and that kiwi chick****! I've got a lot of chapters halfway written but I didn't have time this week since I had a humungous essay to write! So here is this one! ^_^**


	17. Messy Situations

Esme POV:

After my wonderful day with Carlisle saving me everywhere we looked, I ran up to my room and cried for a while. Those guys who were perving after me reminded me of Charles and I was shaken to my core. At least my sexy best friend was there to help me. There was a sense of security being in his arms. I wish he would just figure out what was really the issue with me and my fear of all guys except for him and our guy friends. I really didn't want to have to tell him what Charles did to me.

Soon, my mom and I met up with Lily, Rosalie, and Charles at the ice cream place. The bell of the shop rang, signaling that another customer was entering. I looked up to see Renee, Charlie, and their kids. Renee was pushing a stroller with little Cynthia inside. She had a cute little pink dress on with tiny white shoes.

"Oh, Renee, what a beautiful baby," Charles said, bending down to the stroller. "Who's a cute little girl? You are!" He poked her tummy, and Cynthia immediately started crying and pointing at him. I raised my eyebrow at Renee, and she shrugged.

"Sorry, she's not comfortable around strangers,"

Mom knelt down and picked the newborn out of her stroller. The baby's face relaxed, but she still whimpered. Mom began making cooing sounds, but Cynthia wouldn't stop. "Let me try," Mom handed me the baby, and she stopped crying as I bounced her a little in my arms and kissed her forehead.

"Wow, Esme, you stopped her from crying!" Alice said in awe.

"You're amazing. No wonder my kid loves ya," Charles said, patting me on the back. My knees felt wobbly, so I sat down and jiggled the baby girl on my knee while sitting her in my lap.

"Well, Mom, it's official. Esme is the best babysitter in the world," Emmett said, and he hugged me around the legs. I messed up his hair. Bella and Alice came up to me and started stroking the baby's face and hair.

"Thanks, Esme," Charlie said, and I beamed.

"You're very welcome,"

Lily sat across from me. "Hi, there," she said softly to the baby. Cynthia grabbed one of Lily's fingers and giggled. "Hey, give my finger back!"

"Mommy, I love her already," Rosalie spoke. "Hello, Cynthia, pretty baby," Rosalie rested her arms on my knees and Cynthia started playing with a strand of Rose's hair.

"Goo!" Cynthia babbled to everyone in the shop as if it was an announcement. "Baba gaga! Gababookiki!" We smiled at her gibberish, but Charles looked quite bored.

"Can I hold her?" he asked suddenly after everyone finished their ice cream and took turns carrying the baby for a few seconds.

Lily glared at her husband, and he ignored her. Charlie handed his daughter to Charles, and he said, "Okay, I'm gonna go for a little walk,"

"Um, Charlie-" Renee started, but it was too late. Charles was already gone.

"What?"

"Never mind,"

"Are you going to follow him?" I whispered to Lily.

"Not yet. Wait til I nod, then we'll go together,"

"Have fun, you two," Renee said, waving.

When everyone was deep in conversation, Lily and I snuck out to where we could see him behind the building. His arm was sticking out and bent at the elbow so his hand was not in sight. We walked faster, and caught him red handed. He turned around with his finger up the baby's dress. I couldn't believe it. I knew he was interested in teenagers, but an _infant_? He pulled it out quickly, licked his finger, and moaned while he jerked off. The way he looked at us was like a deer in headlights. "You tell anyone else about this, you will die!" he threatened us. Cynthia was sobbing her poor little heart out, so Lily snatched her from his grasp, growled, "You're sick," and we both ran back to where the rest of them were. I hurriedly pulled her diaper up and smoothed her dress down over her legs. "You're okay, baby," I said soothingly. "Shhh..."

"Hey, where were you guys?" Mom asked, smiling.

"We just accompanied Charles on his little walk," Lily fibbed. "He's gone for a jog now, I guess. Let's all go home,"

The group followed her down the sidewalk. Cynthia wouldn't let go of me. Her arms were tightly wrapped around my neck and not even Renee could touch her without making her cry.

"I understand how you feel, sweet girl," I let the tears fall as I ran back to Renee's house to drop her off. I decided to stay there for a while, and my mom didn't mind.

"Something weird is going on with my daughter," Renee groaned as we both sat down on her leather couch. I gave Cynthia to her mommy, but that girl just would not stop her tears.

"Why don't you sing her a lullaby? My mom used to sing me to sleep, especially when I had horrible nightmares as a little girl," I suggested.

Renee nodded. "Okay...um, I'll put her down for a nap and try to get her to close her little eyes," She held Cynthia close to her chest and we both strode over to the baby's bedroom. It was all pink and purple, like Barbie colors. She laid her down in her crib and started to hum a song.

"Baby mine, don't you cry  
>Baby mine, dry your eyes<br>Rest your head close to my heart  
>Never to part, baby of mine.<p>

Little one when you play  
>Don't you mind what you say<br>Leet those eyes sparkle and shine  
>Never a tear, baby of they knew sweet little you<p>

They'd end up loving you too  
>All those same people who scold you<br>What they'd give just for  
>The chance to hold you.<p>

From your head to your toes  
>Your not much, goodness knows<br>But your so precious to me  
>Cute as can be, baby of mine,"<p>

"There's my beautiful singer," Charlie said, walking from the doorframe where he was standing. He put his arms around Renee's waist and kissed her gently. It turned into a full makeout session until I cleared my throat.

"Oh, sorry," they both mumbled guiltily.

"It's fine," I said while I smoothed the newborn's hair back from her face. She had little hair, but there was definitely black hair growing out. She reminded me a lot of Alice. She yawned cutely and closed her eyes. It seemed like her mommy had finally gotten her to go to sleep.

"Baby, would you please excuse us for a moment?" Renee asked him.

"Sure," Charlie agreed and nodded. He stepped out of the room and Renee took my arm. She led me into Alice's empty bedroom and practically threw me down on the tiny bed.

"Why was my daughter crying, even in my arms?" she demanded, and I jumped at her tone. She never spoke to me this way except for when she was angry at someone else.

"Um, I-I don't know-"

"Do not lie to me! I know he did something to her! Why are you holding back?" She took a deep breath and calmed herself down. "Please, just tell me, what did he do?" she asked, holding my hands in hers.

"Why did you let him take her?" I raised my eyebrow at her.

"I didn't! I didn't want to tell Charlie that Charles is a creep and would probably do something idiotic to her!"

"You should tell him,"

"Just explain why Cynthia isn't happy anymore," she begged with tears forming in her eyes.

"Renee, Lily and I saw him...we can't tell anyone or else he'll murder us with his own two hands-so just swear not to mention this to anyone else. You have a right to know since you are her mother,"

"Damn right I do. Tell me now," she reprimanded in a low voice that was about to break.

"Okay, he forced his finger up her vagina," I said quickly. My best girl friend stared at me with wide eyes.

"No. I refuse to believe that. He didn't-" She hugged herself and started to really sob. "Fuck! He _what_?"

"I'm so sorry," I murmured. "What can I do?"

"Call the fucking cops!" she screamed.

"They won't do anything, you know that. There's not even any evidence,"

"Does he do anything immoral to you?"

"He tells me creepy things like he thinks I'm pretty and at the pool party, just before you had your baby, he sexually harassed me with his words and tried to kiss me. Yesterday, he started sexting me. It seems like he's going after everyone I love now, starting with the women and girls. He's mainly after me,"

"Damn it-" she swallowed hard. "Alice was right! I should have checked up on you! He's doing everything except for crimes so he won't get sent to jail!"

"I know. It's so horrible. I wish he could just drop off the face of the earth," Now, I was beginning to cry. I fell into her arms and she held me. We both wailed together for about fifteen minutes.

"I'm not telling Charlie. He'll go ballistic,"

"His weird behavior will rub off on the guys soon. Don't worry about it. Just keep your daughter far away from him and I advise you not to let Alice or Bella near him either,"

"Thanks, he won't touch them. I'll make sure of that. No pedophile lays a hand on my child and next time someone goes to hand her to Charles, I'll stop them,"

"Good idea. He really grosses me out, you know. I get nightmares and he's in them,"

"Poor baby," Renee gave me another hug. "I'm your big sister. You're supposed to let me know about this shit,"

"I was ashamed of myself, you know?"

"Yeah, it's okay...better sooner than later. Should we tell the other girls?"

"We need to. They should also be warned,"

She nodded in agreement.

After we told them, they were wary of the pervert who lived just up our street, on our block.

"No wonder it's so dark," Carmen shuddered.

"And it has scary stories about it," Charlotte put in.

"What makes the house so strange is the man who owns it," Siobhan chimed in.

"Sarah, Sue, your sisters were walking home with Kate, and she told Carlisle that some guy told her and her friends that they were becoming 'quite young ladies' or something. I have a strong suspicion it's Charles," I announced.

"Me, too," they both murmured.

All the girls were now aware of his actions. It was just my luck that I was babysitting over there tonight. "Well, I have to go over there. Wish me luck, guys,"

My friends hugged me. "Don't get killed," was the last thing I heard before opening the door to face Lily. I jumped in her arms and she rocked me from side to side gently.

"Oh, sweetheart..." she whispered into my hair. "Are you okay?"

"I think so...I told my best friends. They're weirded out by him too,"

"That's good news, darling. Renee knows about the baby, correct?"

"Yeah. She didn't take it too kindly,"

"I can just imagine what she is feeling now,"

"The babysitter's here!" Charles bellowed, pushing Lily away from me. She stumbled backwards and hung on to one of the coat racks for support. He stared down my shirt and licked his lips slowly. "You're such a cute little thing,"

"Stop that, Charles," Lily mumbled hoarsely.

He turned on her and grabbed her by the arm."You goddamn bitch, shut up!" Charles snarled at Lily.

"Please don't," she said weakly. He swung his fist into her face, over and over again. When he was finished, she crumpled to the floor in a sobbing mess.

He stalked over to me and dragged me by the waist over to the couch. He was just about to run his hands up my torso when Lily threw a shoe at him. It missed while she crawled back into a corner. I noticed she had a black eye and blood running down her face with a few bruises.

"Big mistake, Lillian," He staggered over to her and kicked her hard as she screamed bloody murder. His foot slammed itself into her limbs and sides over and over again.

I picked up the shoe that Lily had previously thrown and hurled it at Charles' head. It hit the wall above him and he cursed. He stalked back to me and threatened, "If you repeat what just occurred to anyone, you will pay," His disgusting breath fanned my face, so I held my nose in order to protect myself from his smelly odor. "And I don't mean money," he said in a sickening tone. He was so close to me that I wanted to throw up.

Rosalie tiptoed down the stairs and Charles quickly stood up. "Daddy, what happened? Mommy's crying and Esme looks sick!"

"They're on their periods. Go back up to bed, little girl,"

"I heard yelling and bad words. Really, _really _bad words," Her eyes grew big.

"Did you not just hear me? They're upset," he said harshly.

"I wanna kiss Mommy and Esme to make them feel better," she said, running down the stairs and accidentally knocking over a pile of papers on a low coffee table by the couch I was laying on.

"You little shit! Get back here!" Charles hollered. "Where is that filthy cunt...ROSALIE LILLIAN HALE, IF YOU DON'T GET BACK IN THIS ROOM, I WILL TAN YOUR MISERABLE HIDE!"

She was already in her secret hiding place as soon as he started raising his voice. At least, I thought she was. He dragged her back in the living room by her hair as she cried and tried to struggle free from his grasp.

"Put my daughter down," Lily rasped. "This instant!" Her uncontrollable sobbing continued, but he just ignored her and laughed.

I sat up to give him some input. He could bother me all he wanted, but I was so done with him beating or molesting little girls. "Stop it! She's just a child!"

"You keep your mouth shut and mind your own buisness! I'm teaching this girl a lesson! I'm gonna spank her til her ass is raw!" He yanked her bottoms off and laid her down on his lap, purposely putting her face right on that horrible spot.

"What's that poking in my mouth? It feels weird," Rosalie commented. When he started slapping her, she cried, "Esme, Mommy, help me!"

"Your mommy is currently injured at the moment and cannot participate in the activity you're giving me right now,"

"I'm not giving you anything!" she gasped between hits. "OW, THAT HURTS REALLY BAD!"

"Um...Rose, stop talking. Don't ask why,"

"Too bad, Esme. Her mouth is already where I want it to be and she's not moving anyplace. She's doing wonders for my dick. Fuck, that feels good, baby,"

"Bite, honey. Just bite!" I shouted through my tears. I couldn't move because his arm was across my belly as he fondled his daughter.

"I would actually love that. Thanks for the ideas, Es...keep 'em comin'! Oh, I'm doing that right now..." he cackled like an evil warlock. The punches to her butt stopped and he began to tickle it. He took Rosalie and Lily into the forbidden room and made me sit on the couch, all bound up, for a few hours until it was about midnight. After their screeches of anguish, he decided to torture them some more while I was forced to sit and watch. He even stripped down and shook his hairy butt in my face. I closed my eyes when he turned around so I wouldn't have to see his penis. It was so degrading what he was doing to us. He was just about to put his finger in Rosalie's small opening when Lily gathered up her strength and choked him slightly with one of the coats by the door. He released Rosie and fell back on the couch, passed out cold.

"Take her and go," Lily said, nodding to me. "Hurry, I'll meet you out there,"

I pulled her pants back up and carried her outside as best I could. I wasn't the toughest girl out there and Rosalie was only a few pounds lighter than me. In a few seconds, Lily flew out the door, slamming the door shut behind her. She lifted Rosalie up in her arms and dropped me off.

"See you tomorrow, baby. Rosie and I are going to Edwin's house for the night,"

"Bye, Lily. I hope you heal from that. I'm so sorry you had to endure it, and Rosalie too,"

"My true love will figure it out-the reincarnation of Will," she reassured herself. "Good night,"

"Night," I said, waving.

Once I got into my house, I heard my parents arguing. This was new. They never fought.

"Why would you let him call you Annie? Charles annoys the shit out of me!"

"I can't do anything to stop him,"

"Well, just tell him you don't like it. I know you don't,"

"I don't, you're right,"

"What happened to your eye? It's all bruised, dear,"

"I fell down the stairs, that's all,"

"Somehow, I don't believe that," Eric muttered and walked past me. "Oh, hi, Esme,"

"Hey," My eyes casted downward as I walked to the living room where my mom was sitting, reading a book. I gasped as soon as I saw it. She adjusted her glasses and set her book down.

"Mom, can we talk?" I needed to get this over with as fast as I could.

"Sure, honey. Sit here," She patted the ottoman next to the couch.

"Good romance novel?" I asked. I was too nervous to continue the conversation. I needed to be brave.

"It is. Now, what did you want to discuss with me?" She peered at me over her glasses. "Is it about Charles?"

I blew out a gigantic breath. "Pretty much,"

"I didn't fall down the stairs,"

"I figured,"

"He pushed me down,"

I was startled. "He came in the house, Mom? You let him in when Eric wasn't home? I would have gotten the baseball bat,"

"Baby, I didn't let him in. He smashed his way through the door. You didn't notice it because it's so dark, but he broke in the house and started yelling at me. He said he had a crush on me and when I told him that I was loyal to Eric, he-he-ripped open my shirt-but then I kicked him and told him to stop sexually harrassing you-that's what I found out from Renee earlier tonight. That's when he threw me down the stairs and escaped our house," She was bawling by the time she finished her story. My mouth fell open in complete shock.

"Oh my fucking god. Did she also tell you he put his finger up that baby's dress?"

"Oh, god, no. Were you at his house tonight?" She put a shaky hand over her mouth.

"Yeah. He beat up Lily and felt up little Rosie," I put my hand over hers. I couldn't take it anymore because right then and there, I started crying hysterically. This was really tearing me up on the inside.

"I feel dirty. I don't wanna tell Eric," Mom wailed. "That bastard!"

"I want the guys to find out for themselves and put the puzzle together! This mystery shouldn't be so hard to solve!" I whispered in irritation.

"It's just up to us girls now to give our guys hints. We're all in this together,"

"Together," I agreed as she drew me into her lap and held me close.

****Okay, we are reaching the climax! Thank** you to reviewers that kiwi chick, Just4Me, xXxSecretSmilerXxX, k8lin713, Lauren Facinelli, and TeamCarlisleandEsme8! This is a super long chapter so I expect an equally long review! It's like giving back lol. Also, please check out the banners I made for Summer of Change and My Other Half on the bottom of my profile! :-)**


	18. Hints

Carlisle POV:

That evening, Charles came over to talk to my dad again. He had his phone in his hand and he was saying, "Edwin, look here, I got something pretty cool to show ya,"

"Yeah...um, I don't look at porn. I'm sorry sir, but I follow Jesus' teachings,"

"God, she's like the Virgin Mary, isn't she?" Charles asked breathily. "You can covet another man's wife if your wife is dead, you know. Let's have a beer,"

I could tell my dad hated him.

"Okay, I'll start serving it. Not too much, though. My favorite is wine, since that's Jesus juice in church,"

"Cool, dude," He walked up the stairs and knocked on my bedroom door.

"Hey, Charles," I greeted him.

"Oh, hi buddy! Is your little brother here? I'm showing all the guys this porn shit,"

"Yeah, he loves porn. He stole a magazine from my dad," I chuckled. "Jasper, Charles wants to show you something!"

Jasper scrambled into the room and grinned with delight when he saw the naked body part on Charles' phone. "I hope Alice's boob looks like that one someday, and what a vagina!"

"That's the idea, son," Charles ruffled Jasper's hair and walked back downstairs. "Oh yeah, she'll be a real looker," He started pleasuring himself as he went to join my dad in the kitchen.

"What were you guys looking at?" Kate asked, coming into my room suddenly and plopping down on my bed.

"Charles showed us this naked girl! Her boobs were up close and so was her vagina!" Jasper said gleefully while rubbing himself.

She rolled her eyes and looked away. "Eeewww, how do you even know those words?"

"Carlisle taught me two years ago!"

"Wow, you're an idiot," Kate said, bopping me on the back of my head while standing on her tiptoes. "Well, I'm gonna go back to my room til dinner. See you guys later,"

Charles left about an hour later and my dad called us down for dinner. As usual, he said grace as we held hands. After that, we ate in silence until my dad piped up with, "I miss Lily. Every time I call her, she gets off the phone so fast I can barely finish my sentence. I know she loves me, but why does she always get off when there's a noise?"

"It's her husband, Dad. She doesn't want to get caught cheating on him," I answered logically.

"That makes sense, Carlisle. Perfect sense,"

"Are you gonna kiss her, Daddy?" Jasper asked.

"Son...I gotta wait for her to divorce her husband, otherwise I'm committing a sin. You can't steal someone's spouse,"

"He's a cheater if he's looking at porn," Kate put in.

"That's very true, Katie, but I have to respect their marriage. I can't just butt in where I don't belong. He was asking me to help him learn Jesus' path, but he doesn't seem to be all that interested. I think he's using me in a way,"

"I think so too. He's a bad influence because he smokes and drinks too much," I spoke up.

"Ask Mom up in heaven what you should do," Jasper advised him. My dad's face lit up when he thought about our mom.

"Great idea, son. Thank you. God bless you kids, I have to pray,"

We stifled our laughter at the thought of Dad praying twenty-four seven. That was just too much.

In the middle of the night when everyone was peacefully asleep and the house was quiet, I jolted awake because I heard a frenzied knocking at our door. The doorbell rang a few times so it sounded like a constant chiming of a clock. Dad must have heard it too because he ran down the stairs and answered, "Who is it?"

The voice outside the door was inaudible, but Dad opened it to reveal...Lily holding Rosalie? She was crying, as was her little girl. What the hell was going on here? The next thing I knew, she had launched herself into Dad's arms and Rosalie threw her arms around his neck.

"Carlisle, what's happening?" Jasper asked sleepily as he followed me down the stairs. Kate joined us a few minutes later.

"What now?" she asked groggily. "Is this one of his midnight religious prayers?"

"No, Lily's here and she threw herself into our father's arms,"

"She ran away from Charles? But he's cool," Jasper sighed.

The three of us stopped cold when we saw Lily in the brightness of the kitchen. Rosalie was sitting on a stool while swinging her legs from side to side. Lily was stroking her daughter's blonde hair and Dad was icing her all over. She had so many bruises on her arms and legs. Her eye was black and blue, almost turning purple. Her lip was busted wide open. She was trying to talk through her tears, but she couldn't speak very coherently.

"Er, I think Charles found out she was cheating," I said uncomfortably, backing out of the room.

"He hurt me...so bad, Edwin...I'm so scared he'll come back and really kill me and then the rest of your family," she gasped.

"Well, I'm no doctor, but is the ice working? It would make the swelling go down,"

"Yeah, it feels a lot better. Can w-we stay here for the night?"

"Most definitely. Have you eaten or drank anything in the past few hours?"

"N-no, he locked us up in this room...he said if we told anyone, he would murder us,"

"I'm calling the police,"

"Please don't," Lily begged. "I choked him and he's unconscious. I'll deal with him tomorrow,"

"I'll protect you. Hows about a nice bowl of leftover meatloaf and potatoes, hmm?"

"Thank you. I appreciate your assistance,"

There was the scraping of metal on plates as she and Rosalie ate their midnight dinner quickly. Lily looked down at her feet. "I have nowhere to sleep. I hope I'm not using up space," she said quietly.

"Never worry about that. You can sleep in my bed with your daughter and I'll take the couch,"

"I'm so sorry,"

"Don't be," He lifted up her chin with his finger so her eyes could meet his. "You deserve to be taken care of, and those blue eyes...are like the ocean,"

"Thank you," She cried harder at how nice he was behaving towards her. We ran upstairs and got into our beds. Poor Lily and Rosalie! They had been through so much tonight! I never knew he was abusive. It shocked and angered me to the core.

When they got into Dad's bed, Kate joined them. I wanted to hear what they were saying, so when Dad was fast asleep on the couch, I stood right outside the bedroom door.

"Hi, Lily," my sister began. "We haven't really...spoken much, but I kinda wanted to have a woman talk with you about Charles,"

"What is it, dear?"

"When me and my friends were walking back from a girls' night, he wolf whistled at us and said we were becoming quite young ladies. Then, he said it again to just me: 'You're becoming quite a girl, Katie,' He said it to me personally! Why would he do that? I'm eleven! I've barely started puberty!"

"He's a pervert, Katie. He's also a pig who likes to slap around women and little girls. I apologize greatly that he did that to you girls...said that stupid thing,"

Charles was a pervert? Who else had he put his dirty hands on? What other girls or women suffered at the hands of that soulless monster? What else had he said to Lily and Rosalie, the girls living with him? Something was just off about that guy. I knew he was weird from the second I met him and he chose to play with teenagers. I decided to be nice because some people aren't normal, but they have good hearts. Charles Evenson was not one of those people. I would never trust him again.

"It's all right, I'm just glad I have another girl to confide in,"

"And I'm happy I get to be with your family overnight,"

"Good night. Sleep well,"

"Thank you, I will. You too,"

"Thanks,"

The bedroom door opened and Kate walked past me. I tried to reach for her, but she was too fast for me. "Kate," I groaned. "Why didn't you tell me Charles said that shit?" She had shut her door, so I lightly knocked on it. She opened it a crack.

"Because it's not a big deal,"

"You were crying the other night about it,"

"Yeah, cuz no other guys except him really think I'm quite a woman...Garrett thinks I'm beautiful,"

"Charles was being a pervert to you girls. It's okay if your boyfriend says it, but not some guy you barely know just walking down the street,"

"We told him to fuck off,"

"And what did he do?" I was worried that he hit the girls, including my baby sister. I was honestly scared of her response. "Don't you dare lie to me, Katie,"

"Okay, fine...he said he wanted to fuck us instead, so we ran home,"

"Oh my God!" Fury raged through me as I thought of my own flesh and blood being tainted by that man. It was bad enough that Charles had hit my future stepmother, but him talking to my little sister that way? That was totally unacceptable. I put my fist to my mouth while I seethed. "I wanna punch the lights outta that jackass!" I hit the wall with my fist and Kate jumped. "I can't believe he said that to you guys,"

"I'm...sorry?"

"Why are you apologizing? I need to calm down,"

"It's my fault. We shouldn't have been walking in the darkness alone,"

"The dipshit should learn to control his mouth," I muttered. "Good night, I love you, Katie," I pulled her in for a hug and she responded to it quickly.

"Love you too, Carlisle. Good night,"

I walked back to my room and jumped on my bed. I stayed unmoving on my back while I stared up at the ceiling. I could hear Lily softly crying in Dad's bedroom. Footsteps shuffled up the stairs and the door closed. He comforted her, "It's okay, Lily, I'm here," and stayed with her for about an hour and then I fell asleep.

I woke up very tired. Lily and Rosalie were screaming from nightmares every half hour. I wasn't annoyed at them because it was Charles who caused their pain. I felt sorry for them.

Lily stayed with Dad the whole day and Rosalie kept herself cooped up in Kate's bedroom. She needed a young girl to play with and she didn't want to go outside in fear of seeing her stepfather. Kate was the perfect playmate. I took Jasper to Renee's house to play with Alice and later, I went to find Esme. She was sitting on her porch steps with her elbows sitting on her knees, her face propped up with her hands. When she was aware of my presence, she looked up and struggled to stand. She used the railing to get herself upright.

"Hey, Carlisle,"

"Esme, how are you?"

"I'm...good," She stared down at her nails as I got closer. I leaned on the railing next to her and she lifted her gaze to my face. "What about you?"

"Same...but awfully exhausted. You'll never guess who came to my house at about one in the morning,"

"Lily and Rosalie," she whispered right away while lowering her eyes to the steps.

"Yes. How did you know? I'm impressed,"

"I saw..." she trailed off. "I was babysitting, and I witnessed the fight," She glanced back up at me to see my facial expression. I had no idea what to say to her next.

"She's safe with my dad now, and Rosalie is as well,"

"That's good to hear...they've both been through a lot,"

"I can tell. You know...Charles came to my house last night, early evening, and he said he'd been showing all the guys this porn shit he's got on his phone-"

"I stumbled over that guy who was upskirting me a little, you know, yesterday?" I was cut off abruptly. Why did she always change the subject when I talked about porn? Was she turning into a religious freak?

I gritted my teeth at the memory. "If you kicked him in the head, I would have laughed,"

Her face broke into a smile. "I know. God, I hate perverts," She grimaced and moved closer to my side. "I just want to thank you for saving me...you are truly the most wonderful best guy friend a girl could have,"

"It was harder for me to not kill those guys with my own two hands. I didn't want to get too violent in front of you, though,"

"It's okay. I've seen my fair share to last a lifetime. You throwing a punch at someone who was sexually harassing me is way better than seeing Charles kick Lily's ribs a thousand times over. I have never seen a man hit a woman in such a forceful way. It scared me a little,"

"Did he touch you at all in his anger towards his wife?"

"Oh, no, no...he's really nice to me, actually. I was quite surprised to see him hit his wife. I knew they had problems, but a man can't hit a woman. Women can hit men because guys are stronger and can take the pain. Besides, a girl can't hit that hard. It's sexist, I know, but if you hit me even lightly, it would hurt. If I gave you a little shove, you'd barely move,"

"That's true," She was speaking very quietly as if she were sharing a secret with me. She barely kept her eyes on mine. She seemed rather...shy. She was more outspoken today, but yesterday was a shocker. I forgot to ask her why she was acting that way. "Esme, you're acting funny. Let's sit down," We both sat on her steps and she was still staring at her feet and tracing patterns on her knees.

"What do you mean?"

"You're not usually this held back. What's going on?"

"Nothing. I'm fine. Everything is going just perfectly. I love my life,"

"Then why won't you look at me?" I asked quizzically.

"I like to watch our neighborhood as people and cars whiz by. Fine, whatever, if you think you're the most important thing here, I'll look at your stupid face," She poked me and grinned. There she was again. That was the Esme I knew. "Better?"

"Yeah...it's just that yesterday, it seemed like you couldn't let go of me-"

"I apologize, I'm so clingy," She turned away from me and hiccuped. "There's a big lump in my throat. Thanks a real lot,"

"No, you're not clingy at all. Forgive me, please. I didn't mean to make you cry. Esme, you're shaking!" I noticed aloud as her hand trembled in mine. I drew her into my arms and she laid her head down on my knees.

"Why did you say that?" she croaked. She looked up at me as the tears slowly slid down her blushing cheeks.

"I meant it in a good way. You were attached to me like glue but I enjoyed every single second of it. This other side of you that I'm seeing is pretty interesting,"

"Ohhh, I get it now. I acted like your girlfriend instead of your best friend. See, I was doing that so no perverts could flirt with me, but I guess it didn't work,"

"It was a nice try," I praised her.

"Thank you. So what do you mean by the other side of me? I've always been naive, you know that. Sometimes, I don't know who to trust, since my father walked out on us and everything. I thought he loved us, and look where that went. Out the window,"

"But you've always been so outgoing and you're always laughing at something. You haven't said something snotty to Heidi since a few weeks ago,"

"I haven't seen her lately. If she pisses me off, I'll tell her to get the stick out of her ass and just keep walking because I'm not gonna listen to her bullshit. Also, I hang out with my girls and you all the time. Come on, you know I'm not shy around you people. It's just strangers I feel weird around,"

"You burst out crying when you took something I said the wrong way. If I said that a month ago, I would have gotten an answer that would make _me_ feel like crying. Also, you switch the topic whenever I bring up porn. What are you, a Jesus lover?"

"No, porn is stupid, that's all," she insisted. Then her tone turned dark and her eyes narrowed into slits. "Well, welcome to your new best friend. She looks the same but she acts different. So what?" she asked haughtily.

"I care about you. You're my best friend and I want to be there for you when you're feeling down. I know your soul and deep down inside, you are upset about something way beyond my knowledge,"

"Oh, really, Carlisle? It's that hard for you to figure out? Help me out here, because I have no idea how to get you to understand...since you know me so well, you should be able to piece the puzzle together and realize what the fuck is going on with me on your own!" She rose and quickly walked away from me, and I followed her. Before I realized what I was doing, she was inches from my face. I wanted to kiss her so badly, but now was not the time. She was pissed off at me again.

"That's not fair, Esme. I can't read your mind, but I know something is wrong that you're not telling me,"

She stepped back, further to her house, and nodded. "Please...do anything...talk to your boys if you want. The women and girls I love know what I'm going through. I'll give you a hint. It's not about my father. I haven't seen or heard from him in years. Call me when or if you get something. We can go someplace remote if you'd like,"

"Okay, Esme, I'll do my best to get to the bottom of your mystery,"

"Thank you," She opened the front door of her house and that was the last time I saw her today. I ran my hands over my face and groaned.

Just then, I saw her friends, my sister, and the rest of the middle school girls marching down the street, singing Kesha. It was that song again...what the heck was going on here? They were even carrying their daughters, little sisters, and the two babies were in strollers.

Renee:

_D-I-N-O-S-A-U-R_  
><em>A dinosaur<em>  
><em>D-I-N-O-S-A-U-R<em>  
><em>A dinosaur<em>  
><em>An O-L-D M-A-N<em>  
><em>You're just an old man<em>  
><em>Hitting on me what?<em>  
><em>You need a cat scan<em>

Carmen:

_Oh man_  
><em>Why are you starrin' at me<em>  
><em>Mack on me and my friends it's kinda a creepy<em>  
><em>You should be prowling around the old folks home<em>  
><em>Come on dude! <em>  
><em>Leave us alone<em>

Charlotte:

_At first we thought that it was kind of ill when_  
><em>We saw that you were like a billion<em>  
><em>And still out tryin' to make a killin'<em>  
><em>Get back to the museum<em>

All:_  
><em>_D-I-N-O-S-A-U-R_  
><em>A dinosaur<em>  
><em>D-I-N-O-S-A-U-R<em>  
><em>A dinosaur<em>  
><em>An O-L-D M-A-N<em>  
><em>You're just an old man<em>  
><em>Hitting on me what?<em>  
><em>You need a cat scan<em>

_Hey dinosaur, _  
><em>Hey you're prehistoric! <em>  
><em>Hey dinosaur, <em>  
><em>That's what you are HA! <em>

_Hey carnivore, _  
><em>You want my meat and I know it! <em>  
><em>Hey dinosaur, <em>  
><em>That's what you are HA! <em>

_Yeah, Your pretty old hahaha_

Siobhan:

_Not long til' your a senior citizen_  
><em>And you can strut around with that sexy tank of oxygen<em>  
><em>Honey your toupee is fallin' to your left side<em>  
><em>Get up and go bro! <em>  
><em>Oh wait your fossilized HA! <em>

Sue and Sarah:

_Then you offered me a martini_  
><em>Walk away with your hips with in sinking<em>  
><em>Then you say, Honey wanna come with me<em>  
><em>I'm about to barf seriously<em>

All:  
><em>D-I-N-O-S-A-U-R<em>  
><em>A dinosaur<em>  
><em>D-I-N-O-S-A-U-R<em>  
><em>A dinosaur<em>  
><em>An O-L-D M-A-N<em>  
><em>You're just an old man<em>  
><em>Hitting on me what?<em>  
><em>You need a cat scan<em>

_Hey dinosaur, _  
><em>Baby you're prehistoric! <em>  
><em>Hey dinosaur, <em>  
><em>That's what you are HA! <em>

_Hey carnivore, _  
><em>You want my meat I know it! <em>  
><em>Hey dinosaur, <em>  
><em>That's what you are HA! <em>

_Hey dinosaur, _  
><em>Baby you're prehistoric! <em>  
><em>Hey dinosaur, <em>  
><em>That's what you are HA! <em>

_Hey carnivore, _  
><em>You want my meat I know it! <em>  
><em>Hey dinosaur, <em>  
><em>That's what you are HA! <em>

_All_  
><em>D-I-N-O-S-A-U-R<em>  
><em>A dinosaur<em>  
><em>D-I-N-O-S-A-U-R<em>  
><em>That's what you are HA! <em>  
><em>D-I-N-O-S-A-U-R<em>

_That's what you are HA!_

"WOULD YOU STOP SINGING THAT FUCKING SONG?" Charles bellowed as Esme leaned out her window, "You tell him, girls!" I could see her mom dancing in the background and twirling her daughter around.

What was with Charles? I needed to get something out of him. The girls were singing that song and Charles yelled at them for a reason. I had to discuss this with my friends.

This was going to be hard.

**All right, ladies (and gents?) we have gotten extremely close, yet so far away...i appreciate the long reviews! this is a hella long chapter only cuz of the song, so i guess it's not that long lol...thank you to reviewers that kiwi chick, LaurenFacinelli, k8lin713, TeamCarlisleandEsme8, and Just4Me! Additionally, i'm thanking anyone who has added this story to their favorites and alerts...im really enjoying the support here!**


	19. Assault and Battery

**WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SEXUAL ABUSE AGAINST A MINOR. I TRIED NOT TO MAKE IT TOO GRAPHIC!**

Esme POV:

I was so relieved when the girls sang that song, even though Charles yelled at them to stop. Eric was at work and although he didn't like Charles, he had no idea what the disgusting pedophile had actually done. He just knew that Charles was rude to my mom. My little brother and sisters were at Renee's house, so it was just my mom and I at home. It was quieter than usual with the two of us alone together.

I continued staring out the window, watching cars and people go by. My mom had gone into the other room to read and then make lunch. I looked away from her while I talked to her because I couldn't stop noticing the black eye. It was heartbreaking for me to see her like that.

"Mom, you should go out and see Lily. She's at Carlisle's house, making herself comfortable with Edwin,"

"I would love to, baby, but I can't leave you here by yourself with Charles on the loose. Who knows where he is right now? I mean, his wife and daughter ran out on him for very good reasons, but I'm too scared to let you out of my sight,"

"Me too. I think now that he's beaten up Lily and given you a black eye, we should call the police,"

"Okay, sweetheart," She kissed me on the forehead and started walking to where the phone was on the desk. There was a creak somewhere in the house, so I jumped, not expecting it.

"Mom, did you hear that?"

"What?"

I waited for the noise but there was nothing. "Never-" I started to say, but my mom shushed me.

After a few seconds, I heard shuffling. I grabbed her hand in fright. "Mom," I squeaked out. I may have started hyperventilating because I had a pretty good idea of what was about to happen.

"Someone's in the house or we're completely insane. Either way, I'm calling the cops," she murmured, picking up the phone to dial. She had gotten no further than, "Hi, yes, I am calling-" when the phone was harshly yanked out of her hand and the whole thing fell out of the wall. She crashed to the floor with a scream.

"Mom!" I shrieked, feeling a lump the size of a baseball rise in my throat. I knelt down by her side to feel her pulse. "Mommy, get up, please. Please," I whimpered. "We have to get out of here, I-I can't do this alone," I shook her, but no response. Her heart was beating slowly, so she wasn't dead. Maybe she just fainted. My eyes were starting to water.

"Your mommy can't help you right now, _baby girl_," a voice mocked in a sarcastic, creepy, childish tone.

I clutched my hand to my heart in horror and spun around to face Charles. The evil smile grew bigger as he leered down at me while I tried to get up. I kept tripping over my own two feet as I tried to get away from him.

"H-how did you get here?" I asked in barely a whisper while I backed up into the wall.

"Oh, you poor, naive, shy, little, sweet and innocent young girl...I simply climbed in through your bedroom window, snuck quietly downstairs, and I popped into the kitchen just in time to hear your small mother-daughter conversation. She was fast to call the police, but unfortunately, I stopped her. I knocked her out cold. Don't worry, she'll wake up...soon,"

I stared at him in shock and terror. For a split second, I glanced to where my mom lay on the tile floor.

"It's okay, _honey_. She crashed to the ground pretty hard and it made a loud noise...not surprising for a woman her weight,"

"Don't call my mom fat!"

He started laughing. "Nonsense. At least I think you're pretty special. I just had to get her out of the way, and didn't you once say I would have to get through you to get your loved ones? It turns out that I don't care about any of them except for you. Come with me, my _darling_,"

Before I could stutter a reply, he tossed me over his shoulders roughly so my stomach was pressed on his shoulder blade. I beat my fists against his back. "Put me down! Put me down! Please!" I begged. My breath was constricted.

"Oh, how I love your cries of anguish! Too bad we're going around the block to my house where nobody can see us," he chuckled.

"You're so cruel,"

He spanked me hard on my bottom. "You're a naughty girl! List the ways I've been cruel,"

"OW! That hurt! I've told you already! What you did yesterday was atrocious! Why would you put your finger up a little baby girl's dress? That just makes me sick! She's my best friend's new daughter! She's an infant!" I wailed.

"Damn, and it felt good too," he sighed. "She couldn't even fight me off...but you will be a serious challenge. I'm up for it,"

I was repulsed. "Don't you dare try to rape me, Charles. I'll do anything to get you the hell away from me,"

"You'll call the police anyway," I closed my eyes since I started to get dizzy from thumping against his back so much.

"I have every right to. You abused your wife, made your daughter blow you through your pants, gave my mom a black eye, creeped the shit out of every one of my friends, lied to my guy friends, and finger fucked poor little Cynthia! On top of all that, you've sexually harassed me ever since you've met me, especially at the pool party! I should have called the police then, but I didn't want to because they wouldn't do anything! But now, since you've actually left evidence, I need to call them!" I yelled. My voice grew even more scratchy with each word.

"Oh, my Esme is having a fit. We can't have that, can we?" He shoved open the back door of his house, sauntered past the pool, and into the house. He locked us in his bedroom and I knew I wouldn't be able to get free.

"You must want to get in big trouble!" I snapped. "I'm serious, someone from our block will call the cops when they find out I'm missing and my mom is passed out unconscious!"

"Screw the pigs! Fuck, those fuckers won't ever get fucking fucked! I formed a whole gramatically correct sentence with the word fuck. Aren't I awesome? Your little friend Carlisle certainly thought I was! I wonder what he'll think when I tell him I fucked you to obvlivion? Of course I won't tell him it was you, though! I'll keep our little activities a secret,"

"He's gonna suspect it is me,"

Ah, never fear, I'm not gonna keep you in here for long. Maybe just an hour...and then I'll show you the forbidden room and what's really inside there," He dropped me on the floor and I fell on my hands and knees. I helped myself up with the bedpost and dusted my hands off. I looked up at him and realized for the first time that his eyes were glassy.

"I really, really like you, Esme," Charles said, staggering drunkenly towards me. "You're such a beautiful young woman, fully grown before you're legal,"

I took a few steps back, then some more until I hit the wall and I couldn't go anyplace. He had me trapped. I wanted to shout for help, but I couldn't make a sound. I gulped down air and my throat felt dry. I tried to breathe, but I felt as though I were being suffocated by an invisible weight on my chest.

"I've always loved you," he added, taking off his shirt and flinging it across the room.

"No!" I shrieked as his filthy breath fanned my face. I felt myself getting wobbly and his flabby body pressed against mine was the only thing holding me up.

"Oh, baby, I suggest you keep your mouth shut before anyone finds out. Let me explain the moment I knew you were meant to be mine. Once you came to my door that first night to babysit my kid, once I laid eyes on you, I thought you were the loveliest girl who lived on the planet. In fact, no, it was before that. When you bent down to help the kid who fell off the swings, your pink skirt billowed a little in the wind and showed your white, lacy panties, barely covering your ass,"

"You're sick!" I tried to holler, but my voice didn't come out right.

"Maybe I am, but a guy like me can't help falling for a girl like you. God, you look so much better in person than from your bedroom window. You know, I've seen you naked from there and from your pictures, but I'd love to see you in your birthday suit right now so I can actually feel the parts I've been missing,"

"Huh?" I swallowed hard as he removed my hands from my blouse that I had been holding onto so tightly that my knuckles were turning white.

"You''ll belong to me forever, Esme Anne_ Evenson_," He wrapped his dirty arms around my waist and stuck his tongue inside my mouth as he forcefully kissed me. I struggled and squirmed, but I couldn't get away. My screams were muffled as thousands of tears spilled down my cheeks. I bit down hard on his tongue.

"You bitch!" Charles bellowed, pulling away from me quickly. He spat at me, raised his hand and smacked me clear across the face. I collapsed on the ground and groaned in pain.

"Don't hurt me," I gasped through my tears. He had hit me so hard that I felt warm, wet liquid dripping down from the spot below my eye to my jawline. Blood.

He ignored me. "You will do as you are told. All I wanted was a kiss. Now I'm gonna get so much more from you, dollface. Take your clothes off,"

"No," I said quietly, staring down at the ground where I had just gotten up from.

"No? That's your answer? Just no?" His voice was eerily calm as he stepped closer to me, now cornering me to the bed.

"I won't be degraded like this," I chewed on my lip and tried not to look at him.

"Stop trying to fight back. It's not working," he muttered and grabbed me by the front of my shirt. In a swift motion that I never saw, he tore open my shirt, and the buttons snapped off with clinks that echoed across the room reverberated. "I will have you whether you want me or not!" He twisted my hands off the button and zipper of my jeans and then stopped. "Hold on, I'll be right back. I got a better idea. Just to make sure you don't move a muscle while I'm in the closet-" his fist swung hard into my eye and then he walked to his closet.

"Ow!" I cried. He threw back his head and laughed demonically.

When he came back, his arms were full of sex toys, like chains and whips. "This is what I used on Lily, but now I'll have some fun with you," Before I could answer, he clipped the handcuffs around my wrists and then around my ankles. He threw me on the bed and sat heavily on top of me. I was now powerless against him and let the tears fall freely.

"Get off," I barely spoke.

"Would you quit that? You're mine, now, as I said previously," He tore off my jeans and underpants at the same time and then roughly pushed off my bra, breaking the clasp in the back and making it snap against me. I was shaking when I felt his disgusting fingers go inside me. It was so agonizing that I tried to kick my bound feet, but he sat on them, creating a bruise wherever he sat. His mouth covered one of my nipples and he squeezed the other one as hard as he bit down. I attempted rolling over, but it was too late. Blood spilled out of my breasts and there were giant toothmarks. "Aaah, that felt so good. Nice girl, you're very silent," He scooted off me and then I felt a slimy substance on my clit. I knew I had my period right now and I felt him sucking. "I like your blood so much more than Lily's," He clamped his teeth down hard into the area and growled. I couldn't budge because the spot was so sore.

"Ow," I wept.

"Oh, quit your whining, Esme. You knew this would happen as your punishment for telling everyone," He straddled me, tugged off his pants, and rammed his hardened manhood into my aching core. This time, I screamed out loud.

"HELP! PLEASE HELP, ANYBODY! HELP ME!" He slapped a hand over my mouth and stifled my cries while he just grinned and moaned with pleasure. After he climaxed inside me-mind you, it was so gross-he leapt off and grabbed his camera. I covered myself with the sheet as best I could.

"Don't hide your unbelievably hot body. Actually...fold your arms over your breasts and go up against the wall and spread 'em,"

"NO!" I denied.

A gun cocked from behind him and he pointed it straight at me. "Do it or I'll shoot you,"

"O-okay," I mumbled and just followed his commands. He tortured me some more by taking pictures of me in sexual positions. I was so humiliated and I just wanted to crawl under a rock. He stood over me and lowered himself down on my mouth. I turned my head to the side, but he snapped it right back so his dick would go into my mouth. I didn't open up for him. I felt so sick that I wanted to throw up. He lifted my hand and folded it over his penis tightly and massaged it. Then, he pried open my mouth and stuffed it in. I gagged and spit out his demon seed.

"I've showed every guy you know what your sexy tits and cunt look like. They all jacked off, thinking it was porn,"

A shuddering gasp came out of me. "They're all loyal to their wives or girlfriends, and Carlisle's not into looking at naked private body parts,"

"The little boys, such as Carlisle's younger brother liked it quite a bit..."

"He didn't know what it was! If he knew who it was, he would have gotten so angry! I'm his babysitter, you asshole!"

"Really? I found my babysitter pretty delicious when I was his age,"

"He's not like that! He follows in his brother's gentlemanly footsteps! He wanted to protect Alice from some guy named James,"

"What about your own brother, though? He didn't recognize it was you either. He had no idea what a breast or vagina was, and I had a little conversation with him about that. Same with Renee's son. They were so interested,"

"Edward's afraid of you! He saw you one night out my window when we traded bedrooms,"

"What a little pussy. Now, I loved _your_ pussy, though...it was tasty. Mmm," he licked his lips slowly as I closed my legs and folded them up against my chest, showing vulnerability. Even with my privates hidden, I felt way too exposed. "Now, you're gonna see the forbidden room," I was untied and dragged down the stairs. He opened one door with a creak and then unlocked the other one. He tossed me inside and slammed the door shut. I was still naked and cold, and I shivered.

A foul scent filled the dark room and a mangled corpse lay near my feet. I jumped back in surprise and horror as I realized it was a female who had been mauled by his dog. He spared me because he found me...attractive. I was lucky in a very twisted way. It was wrong, but in a sense, I was glad.

The Doberman was chained up and trying to get loose and eat me, but I was too far away. I heard bones crunching and the dog furiously barking. My heartbeat thudded loudly against my ribcage. He was suddenly in the room, talking to the dog.

"Now, Spike, you don't want to hurt her. I love her very much," The light turned on, and I coughed and sneezed from all the dust that was gathered in the room. There were so many skeletons in here, large and small, and the recent one he had killed was the young girl with rotting flesh. That must have been the missing nanny...I covered my mouth in fear. I needed to tell everyone what I had found. The lights flickered on and off, making the room appear even more spooky.

"Your job is to clean this place up. Stack the skeletons up against a wall, put the children's sex toys in that box over there, and try not to get chewed up by my dog. Get it, got it, good. You say, 'yes, Mr. Evenson,'"

"Yes, Mr. Evenson," I said softly, on the verge of more tears.

He left the room and answered the door for someone. I pushed open the door and saw the old guy who was on the bus, the upskirter, and Charles, all talking cheerfully.

"Da-aym Charles, she is fine! I can't wait to tap that," the guy with white hair said. He wouldn't take his eyes off me, even when I leaned against the wall and hid my privates.

"Ah-ah-ah, wait your turn, I'm goin first! Wait, I already did!" Charles crowed. "Never mind, you can have her. I gotta talk to my boys for a sec. Aro, Caius, attack her,"

It was a nightmare as they touched me everywhere. I did my best to fight them off, but they were too strong. One held me down, and the other thrusted himself in me. They even did a threesome, with me sandwiched in between them. I felt so dirty and wanted to kill myself.

"Please...no," I gasped through my tears.

"Fuck, yes!" the men screamed as they both climaxed in me. When they finally left me, I ran into the kitchen and saw where his gun lay. I pointed it at the both of them and my shaking fingers pressed on the trigger. The bang sounded and Charles' friends were unmoving on the ground. I scrambled upstairs, redressed myself, and dialed nine-one-one. I explained what went on in this house and then my house. When I heard Charles stomping back up the steps, I escaped through the window, sprinted all the way back to my house, and was safely inside.

My mom took me out for driving lessons after she finally woke up, but I couldn't concentrate. When we got home, I ran upstairs and grabbed something sharp. I thought about my suffering at the hands of Charles Evenson then and started trembling and sobbing uncontrollably. I had just been brutally raped. I held the shimmering blade over my wrist.

What Charles did to me.

I dug deeper.

The things he said.

The cut bled profusely.

The way he touched me.

My arm was a bloody mess and I was now in a torn up heap on the floor.

I just wanted all this to stop.

**Sorry for not getting this up sooner...stupid power went out at my house, shutting off the internet and making me unable to upload! ****Please read and review! Thank you to all those who have favorited this story and put it on alert. Also, thanks to reviewers TeamComrade11, Just4Me, LaurenFacinelli,TeamCarlisleandEsme8, k8lin713, and that kiwi chick! Oh and before I forget, I'm currently working on a Carlisle/Esme one-shot that will be posted by tomorrow morning, if you're interested!**


	20. Confirmed Suspicions

Carlisle POV:

I met the boys at Charlie's house. We played video games for a while and then started talking.

"Have you guys noticed that Esme's been acting strange lately?" I asked them.

"She seems very timid, it's weird," Charlie answered, and the other guys nodded in agreement. "My girl's acting different as well. She always checks the locks and the kids' rooms every half hour, sometimes even every two seconds. I'm kissing her one minute and then she escapes to make sure the children are safe and playing the next,"

"Did you ask her what was wrong?" Peter wanted to know.

"Yeah, but she just said she was being very cautious, since she thinks there's a prowler in our neighborhood...she said we don't know him but she's seen him before..." Charlie trailed off, confused.

"Maybe it's because Lily came to my house, beaten by her husband...it's probably got something to do with Charles," I volunteered.

"She's worried that he'll beat her up too, I guess," said Billy.

"How about your girls?" I gestured to the rest of them.

"Same," they murmured altogether.

"My dad wanted to call the cops, but Lily begged him not to...something about shame or too much attention put on her. I mean, this is a small middle class town with very little crime...the worst someone could do is litter in the street or drive over the speed limit,"

"I wonder if he ever did do anything to our girls without our knowledge," Harry thought aloud.

"Hey, dude, remember when he was talking to them all like a week ago and then they ran off?" I reminded them.

"Yeah, maybe they were getting a creepy vibe from him," Liam responded.

"Man, I knew this guy was bad news," I groaned and ran my hands through my hair.

The doorbell rang and Renee appeared in the living room. "Sorry, but I'm afraid to answer the door. A burglar might come in and kidnap our babies,"

Charlie got up and gave us a look that said _See what I mean?_ He opened the door for Charles, the devil himself. "Hey guys!" Charles bellowed. "I just wanted to brag about a little somethin'," He sat down on the couch without warning and we all had to scoot over to make room. "Renee, get us some whiskey!"

"She's not even in the room," I muttered.

"All right, while we wait for her to service us, I wanna tell you about my new girlfriend after Lily so rudely left me in the night. I was heartbroken! How could she do that to me? Sure, I roughed her up some, but she wasn't that bad...it'll all go away soon. She was disobeying me, what can I say? She took our daughter away from me too, and I loved her! So off that subject...I might cry if I talk about it too much...my new honey is this fifteen year old girl who's got quite a body, and she's a virgin too...or should I say, she _was_, after I worshipped her body...damn, let me show you more pictures," He whistled lowly under his breath while he took his phone out of his pocket. "She wanted me bad, you could tell by her loud breathy moans and her soaking wet folds...so don't turn me in, cuz it would upset both of us," He passed the phone to Peter, and a bewildered expression crossed my friend's face. Peter handed the phone down the line of us guys and when it got to me, I scrolled through the pictures. The girl's face didn't show very well, and some of the pictures were locked or blurry. I pressed the home button and saw the screen for one second until the phone was roughly moved out of my hand. The face I saw was oddly recognizable. The eyes and lips were blacked out, but I detected the mouth was open. There was a little bit of curly brown hair framing her face and going down her shoulders, touching her breasts ever so slightly. None of us guys were affected by the porn because they had girlfriends and in my case, I had Esme to fantasize about.

"Say, Charles, what was her name?" I inquired just out of curiousity.

"It's our little secret relationship. She doesn't want me to tell anyone, so I'm respecting her privacy. This is perfect...normally, a teenager doesn't want to date an old man like me, but this one likes them older...she likes the feeling of being younger, smaller, and weaker. Yes, we do S&M and I fucked her to oblivion. I'm getting hard thinking about her already," He popped his neck. "I'll show these pictures to little Emmett and Jasper,"

Before we could argue, he had already gotten up. Charlie clenched his fists in anger. "I'm gonna kill this guy! My son can't watch porn yet,"

We followed him into Emmett's room where they were playing with toy cars. They ran up to Charles and hugged him around the legs.

"Hey, little dudes...here's some more porn for you. Shhh, don't tell your mommy,"

The boys looked at the pictures on the phone. "Cool!" they exclaimed.

"We're gonna go now...our babes need us," Harry said while checking a text. We waved goodbye to them and then Charlie and I shook our heads. We strode into the kitchen where Renee was making dinner. Charlie went over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She visibly jumped.

"Oh!" she shouted, surprised. "Thank God it's just you," She turned around and leaned up to kiss him on the lips with a smile that looked slightly forced.

"Who else would it be, sweetheart?" He kissed the top of her head and she shrugged.

"No one. Sorry about that, and I'm not bringing Charles anything. He came in here uninvited. You're like best friends with him. He's a bad influence,"

"I know that, but he comes whether we want him to or not. I don't want to be close to him. I mean, he abused his wife, and now, he's showing Emmett and Jasper pictures of his girlfriend naked and in his bed with sheets wrapped around her...it's a little disturbing since she's only fifteen, but he said she likes it-" Renee interrupted him and practically ran to Emmett's room.

She immediately took the phone out of their hands as they whined, "Mom!" and "Renee!" She ignored their complaints. "You get away from him, you hear me?" They put their heads down and briskly followed her out of the room like ducklings. She had both of them in a tight hold and glared back at Charles, "Stay away from my children,"

Charles said nothing but had a smug look on his face while he tousled the boys' hair on either side of Renee.

"Mom, you're such a cunt!" Emmett yelled, and Charles stifled his laughter. Renee gasped, stopped short in the middle of the hallway, and smacked him upside the head. It didn't appear to hurt him too bad, but he was rubbing his head and groaning.

"Where did you hear that?"

"Charles. He said it means stupid,"

"Don't you ever say that again, do you understand me? That is a very crude word and it has more meaning than you think," she said in a stern voice.

"Sorry, Mom,"

"It's ok, baby, you didn't know,"

We guys sat on the couch when Renee went into the girls' bedroom. "Mommy, what's a cock? Do girls have it too?" we overheard Alice ask.

"Yeah, it sounds gross and looks like a hot dog! I hope I don't get one," Bella added.

We raised our eyebrows at Charles and he simply said, "Whoops," Charlie's face was getting redder by the second and it may have turned purple. I, too, was outraged. How could he talk like that to little girls? That's something a pedophile would do!

"Girls, I will explain that when you are much older. But no, girls and women do not have that, only boys and men,"

"Hey, don't forget to tell 'em about periods!" Charles cut in, making Charlie seethe.

"Don't listen to him, darlings. Did he pull his pants down in front of you?"

There was silence and Charlie stood up and grabbed Charles by his shirt collar. "Get out of my house, Charles, and never come back," he growled. "Hurry up before I do something to you!"

"He did more stuff to Rosie," Alice said. "But while we were just playing Barbies, he did something weird when you were busy with Emmett and Jasper and Daddy was with Carlisle,"

"He wanted to show us what it looked like and dared us to touch it, but we said no and ran like the wind," Bella put in.

"Oh my God! I'm calling the cops!" Renee screamed. She came out with baby Cynthia in her arms, holding her protectively. "You stay there, girls,"

Charles pretended to open the door and walk out, but when Charlie went to Renee and they were talking on the phone to the cops, he grabbed Renee and the baby while Charlie was speaking and trying to get ahold of the police. The wailing started and then Charlie went through the roof and punched Charles in the face, making him stumble back a few feet. I had never seen my friend so violent or angry, but I wanted to give Charles a few kicks in the balls. He hurt Lily and apparently, the little girls as well. I still hadn't forgotten what he said directly to my sister, and I was glad Charlie was giving him what he deserved. Charles wasn't prepared for the hit. Charlie caught him by surprise.

"Just stay the fuck off my wife and kids,"

Charles grumbled but escaped the house, and all of us sighed in relief. I followed him out the door to see where he was going next. All of a sudden, I saw Eric opening the door of Esme's house and running inside, calling Anne's name, so I veered to the right and went inside.

Oh, hi, Carlisle, have you seen Esme or Anne today? Neither of them answered their phones,"

"I last saw them this morning, just before noon, inside this house-"

I was cut off when I saw Anne lying still on the kitchen floor with the phone in a broken mess beside her. She had a black eye and blood was spilling from an unknown area on her person.

"Oh my God! Annie! Wake up, love!" Eric shook her, but she didn't move.

After a few minutes, though, she opened her eyes sleepily. "Wha-what happened?" she asked drowsily. "Where's my baby?"

"I don't know, you were unconscious before I arrived. I tried calling you both, but I couldn't reach either of you. Your phones went straight to voicemail, and I was worried," Eric said, helping her up. She tried to stand, but she sank down into a chair instead. I got a towel and started mopping the floor to clean up the blood. Eric held an ice pack to her head and thankfully, she only had a few scrapes and a bump that would go away in a couple of days. I wondered where she got her black eye. Had Charles given her that?

"I was gonna take Esme for her first driving lesson today...you guys can go play basketball if you want," she said, seeming a little out of it. Eric and I played basketball for a few hours until he had to go back home for dinner. After having dinner at my own house, I took myself for a jog since it was about to get dark.

A while later, Esme strolled out of her house, looking dazed and confused. The way she was looking past me and at something off in the distance...she looked lost and dare I say it, broken. She came closer and aimlessly, and I squinted in the harsh streetlight she was standing under beside her house. My dream girl just froze in that spot...staring and unmoving. I wanted her to say something, anything, that would make me know that she was aware of my presence. It was as if she had no purpose to come out here. The sky was clear of any stars and she didn't even smile when I made a small wave in her direction.

"Esme," I heard myself say, hoping to break her out of her trance. "Esme!" I said again. That's when I noticed it, as her eyes passed over me. Her delicate flesh was marred.

She had a black eye and a red mark on her cheek that looked like it was about to bleed. Bruises stood out on her exposed skin-purplish red ones. Her wrist was in a bloody rag that was probably once a bandage. Her arms were crossed over her waist and as she was walking, she was truly limping along. If someone didn't know her, they would have assumed she had cerebral palsy or was trying to walk without a wheelchair. Her hair was frazzled and her clothes were a torn mess. She finally snapped out of it when she realized I was gawking at her injuries. Horrified at what could have struck her so violently, I put my fist to my mouth to keep from screaming, _what the fuck happened to you_?

"Well, it's a good thing I'm not paralyzed, right?" Esme's light tone made itself clear, but I could tell she was forcing her smile and happy voice. She appeared as if she had been crying for a very long period of time. "I just came out here to get some fresh air,"

I was startled. "You-you look like you got ran over by a car, trampled by bulls, and then dipped in acid,"

She snorted, laughing without humor. "I wish. I just sliced my wrist badly on a knife and um...fell down the stairs. I've been a klutz lately,"

Somehow, I didn't believe her, but I didn't let that show on my face. Her eyes, which were usually so expressive, were now void of emotion. Her smile looked shaky and it looked like she was barely holding on. Suddenly, she collapsed into my arms, sobbing her heart out. Heartbroken for my best friend and crush, I just held her tightly and rubbed soothing circles on her back.

"BOO!" a man's voice shouted, and Esme's shriek pierced through me like a razor blade. We both looked up and faced Charles. He bared his tattooed chest to us and asked, "You scared?"

I jumped slightly, but I lied and said, "No," Esme wouldn't answer. She kept crying and burying her face into my shirt.

"What about you, little lady?" Charles asked, touching her shoulder with his fingertip. I saw her flinch and then he backed away slowly. "Did you like my little act I put on for you?"

"Yes, sir," she said meekly while sniffling. She left my arms and Charles approached her.

"Now, what's wrong? You know you can tell me everything, we're like father and daughter,"

Her eyes widened and she shook her head. There was something amiss about this picture. She was scared and her body language of eyes down, arms covering her chest, and shoulders hunched over, showed that she clearly didn't wish to speak to him. She was barely looking at him and kept her gaze fixed on me, or rather, my shoes. Her hair was hiding her face...caramel curly locks that ended at her chest...and the way he was staring at her was like a predator stalking his prey. There was also a very obvious bulge in his shorts while she stood vulnerable, open to attack. She reminded me of a flower just beginning to bloom, but now that blossoming flower was hit by a strong force. The petals scattered across the metamorphic ground and the fallen angel from heaven lay broken and still, as if she were upset that her precious flower was now ruined. Cautiously, I took her arm and led her inside the house, farther away from Charles. She was shaking, frightened.

"So, about that girl..." I started but then trailed off as Esme turned her head to listen in our our conversation. "...she was fifteen, right?"

"Yup," Charles smirked. "Simple and pure, but she wanted me so bad. Fuck, she's a devil in an angel's body,"

Esme's face paled and my eyes flickered between the two of them. "Anyone I know, sir?" Trembling like a leaf, she grasped my hand firmly and pulled me inside her house.

"Why me?" she sobbed.

Charles ran away, and it clicked; suddenly, I knew. That fucking bastard...I wish I could just sneak up on him and kill him or something! I had no idea what he did to her, but he was going to get his one of these days whether he went to the police or not!

"Excuse me, Esme, I have to do something right now," I slammed the door shut behind me and ran to where Emmett and Jasper were playing baseball near the alley. "Go ahead, boys, hit a homer right in his window, I'll take care of him tomorrow," I allowed them.

The cracking of ball against metal sounded and then there was a crash. A hole was smashed right through his basement window, it looked like. Hopefully, he wouldn't come after us. As soon as we saw the flashing red and blue lights, we raced back to my house and watched him get taken away in the cop car. Even if we were a little far from him, I could still hear what was going on.

"Charles Evenson, you're under arrest for assault and battery against two women, indecent exposure, and lewd acts against a minor..." The rest was unintelligible, so we continued on back towards our destination.

I gritted my teeth in frustration. He was a monster, that I knew, but how exactly had he hurt the girl I cared the most deeply about? I would get this thing out of her no matter how long it took me.

**Thank you to all those who have favorited this story and put it on alert. Also, thanks to reviewers Just4Me, CarlisleandEsme, LaurenFacinelli,TeamCarlisleandEsme8, k8lin713, and that kiwi chick! HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I'm working on a Halloween one-shot up about Rosalie and Emmett and it'll be up by nine PM tomorrow! In California, it's Halloween in two hours! YAY! ^_^ I had a party last night so that's why this took a while!  
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	21. Mystery Solved

Esme POV:

Oh, God...Carlisle left me.

He figured it out and he ran home. I had no idea how I would recover from my full-blown panic attack. It was the scariest thing I'd ever experienced, especially because the man of my nightmares was discussing how I felt to him, with the boy of my dreams. I was still crying and I longed to be with Carlisle again.

I heard the wailing of police sirens and saw the car speeding down the street. I guess the cops listened to my desperate plea for help. I was again in searing pain and it had only ceased once Carlisle's arms were wrapped around me and holding me tight against his chest. He was my safe haven. Although I was relieved Charles had been arrested, I hated the fact that Carlisle may be mad at me for holding out on him for so long.

Shakily, I walked into the kitchen, expecting dinner to be ready. I was right in my assumptions, but everyone was just sitting there and not eating. Even my parents' eyes were glazed over and silverware plinked on the white plates as they played with their food. My brother and sisters were continuously asking me what that noise outside was and why mommy and daddy looked sad. I pretended not to know and simply shrugged my shoulders. They were quiet the entire time. The whole atmosphere wasn't lively as usual. Instead, it was dreary and dark, like someone had died. In a way, I was the one who died. Not literally, but figuratively. A part of me had stopped living since I was assaulted.

It hurt me to see my family like this, because I was the cause of their pain. It was my mom who found me crumpled to the floor. She picked me up, though as weak as that cruel monster made her, and carried me downstairs. Eric cleaned my wound and wrapped my arm in white gauze. The kids brought my parents ice for my black eye. My parents laid me down on the couch for an hour or so and then I went out. It was random that Carlisle showed up, but he was there at the perfect time. I was sure he knew what happened now.

My mother and Eric were crying, that much I could tell, but nobody spoke a word since I came home, besides the driving experience. I had no idea why my mom took me out, but maybe it was to forget about everything. It would never be erased from our memories, though.

"Mommy, Daddy, aren't we gonna eat?" Edward asked.

"We can't eat without you, sissy, sit down!" Vera said, patting the seat beside her.

"Yeah, we're having pasketti!" Bree bounced up and down in her chair.

Poor babies. They had no idea what was going on. Charles was simply a figment of their imaginations. An involuntary shudder went straight through me as I thought his name, and I sniffled.

My mom raised her head to look at me. "Sweetie, it appears as if no one's hungry except the kids, so they can eat, we'll go to bed,"

"Okay, I have to go to the bathroom,"

She nodded in understanding and I was able to get out of the room full of the people I'd shamed so much.

I ran for my life up the stairs. I looked back when I heard footsteps. My parents were following me up the stairs, but instead of their faces, I saw _his _face, _his _ugly and demonic smile...and I picked up my pace. Once I got to the bathroom, breathing hard, I slammed the door and locked it before anyone could come in. As I was sitting down on the toilet to check out my injuries, a loud knocking sounded on the door.

"You in there, baby?" A man's voice? A woman's? I wasn't sure.

"Leave me alone!" I cried desperately. "Please!" I gasped deeply and bravely looked at the pain he inflicted on me. I touched the tender spots lightly and traced the cuts. Were those...teeth marks? Indeed, he had bitten through my vagina like a savage animal on the hunt. Upon inspecting it closer, the bile rose up from my stomach and I threw up right in my hands, choking on my own vomit. Someone was sobbing from the other side of the door.

"Oh my God, Eric...oh my God, she's so broken!"

"What should we do? She won't let us talk to her,"

"He pushed me down first and then kidnapped her. He used us to get easy access to our daughter. She has to explain it to me, at least. She might be sensitive to guys,"

"You're right...I'll see you later, Annie. Meet me in the bedroom?"

"Of course,"

The polite knocking came again, once I returned to my normal senses. A soft voice came through the door. "Honey, would you feel comfortable talking to me about what happened?"

I sighed and pulled up my pants. "Whatever," I unlocked the door and let her in.

"He beat you up,"

"Thank you for stating the obvious, Mom," Anger always won over fear. If I acted mad, she'd feel less guilty. Oh, what the hell was I thinking? I knew nothing.

"Was there more?"

"Why would you think there would have been?"

"You're having trouble with your walking,"

"It hurts to sit down," I admitted. "My pee burns and so does my period. Have you ever heard of...cuts in a girl's...you know, area?"

Mom nodded her head slowly with her lips in a straight line. "Vaginal tearing," she whispered. "Oh, God..." She put her hand to her mouth and tried to blink back tears, but it wasn't working.

"He bit me and I don't have to say the rest about what happened down there. You can assume. In fact, you probably already know,"

"My poor baby!" I was crushed against her chest as our tears mixed together on our cheeks.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you when I first knew he was creepy...I was so embarrassed! I thought you would say he's just being nice!"

"It's too late to apologize. The damage has been done. I'll take you to bed and hold you until you close your pretty eyes,"

"One is completely fucking swollen! Ow!" I whimpered as she walked me to my bed. My breathing was ragged when she helped me into the sheets.

"It'll get better in time. I just know it," she cooed while smoothing back my hair from my face.

My phone rang and I got it out of my pocket. It was Carlisle! Mom knew she had to leave the room, and she did while blowing me a kiss. I gave her one in response.

"Hello?" I squeaked through my cries.

"Esme, you don't have to say much. I know you're upset and I know exactly why you've been acting so distant. I don't want to tell you my theory, because I hope I'm wrong. You can tell me tomorrow at the beach...Lily can take us,"

I was thrilled and my emotions were flying everywhere at top speed. "Okay,"

"See ya,"

"Bye,"

I sank down into my pillow and closed my eyes while I cried myself to sleep.

The next morning came quickly. With the beast gone, there was no more panic, as long as he was in handcuffs inside a jail cell. I quickly got ready for the day and applied my makeup in the mirror. I put on dark jeans and a purple blouse that pushed up my breasts, revealing my cleavage. I wanted to look as sexy as I could. I heard somewhere that if you look great, you'll feel a lot better than before you dressed up. I had no idea if that was true, but it was worth a try. I sprayed myself with perfume and I was ready to go. Lily pulled up just as I slipped on my flip-flops. I attempted running out the door, but it was more of a jog, since my legs were aching from all that pressure from yesterday. I swallowed my tears when I realized that just twenty-four hours ago, I was perfectly safe with my mom in the kitchen.

"Hey, darling," Lily said, smiling. "Long time, no see," She tousled my hair and went up the road to pick up Carlisle. He was buying himself a Starbucks, apparently.

I grinned back at her. "Good morning. I'm so happy to see you," We hugged and then I whispered in her hair, "Your ex raped me,"

She pulled back immediately. "What the fuck? You're kidding, right?" Her smile faded when I looked down at my lap unhappily.

"My mom and I were just talking and about to call the police, you know...and then he just mysteriously snuck in my house through my bedroom window, where he'd been a peeping tom all this time...and then he knocked out my mom, took me inside his house, and just had his way with me. Of course, he locked me in the forbidden room and his friends had some turns. I called the police and he's arrested," I explained the whole story quickly before I broke down.

"Sweetheart..." was all she could say when she dissolved into tears. "I never knew he would go that far. He's never even killed anyone,"

"Yeah, he did. Thousands of girls and women's dead bodies and skeletons were stinking up that room with the dog guarding it,"

"We need to show the police. Oh, that horrible, miserable excuse of a man!" She honked the horn with fury raging through her eyes and she ran a hand through her hair. "I am so sorry,"

"It's not your fault," I said under my breath while Carlisle climbed in the back. "Hi, Carlisle," I greeted him.

"Hey, Es," he replied just as casually.

Lily raised an eyebrow and I mouthed _he doesn't know yet_ at her, so she said nothing further. She dropped us off at La Push Beach, told us to have a great time, and we began to travel the sand by foot without saying a word. I wondered who would be the first to talk. It was eerily silent here, even with him.

"Esme, how's babysitting going for you?" Carlisle asked me abruptly.

I stared down at the sandy beach as I walked and looked at all the footprints we were making. "It's fine. Rosalie's cute and her mom's really nice,"

"And her dad...you haven't spoken about him lately,"

My eyes glanced toward the ocean and then back down at the ground. It was quiet and nice listening to the sound of the waves and taking a stroll beside Carlisle. It took my mind off everything. I crossed my arms over my chest and looked up at him for a second. He was still waiting for an answer.

"Charles is her stepfather. Her dad died when she was just a toddler. She barely remembers him, but she and her mom both love Charles...er, Mr. Evenson," I closed my eyes as I said his name and shivered slightly.

"Do you like him?"

"Yeah, he's fine," I lied and then changed the subject quickly. "So how is your driving lesson with your dad going so far? I love to practice driving with my mom," I looked up and stared blankly into space.

"Esme, you just switched topics on me. You never do that. Are you okay?" He was concerned. I wanted him to hold me and make everything be alright, but my crush on him was a secret, so the most we could do was be best friends.

I nodded my head. "Mm-hm," but my voice cracked and betrayed me. I bit my lip and looked at the sky. "It's so pretty here," I commented, trying to avoid his questions.

"Just like you are. Please tell me, what's wrong?" he demanded.

"Thank you for saying I was pretty,"

He stopped walking abruptly. "Look at me, please,"

I jumped at his voice. It sounded a bit harsh, and I almost stumbled over a rock. He caught me and I loved the feeling of being in his arms. I sighed and looked up at him. "Nothing's wrong, I promise,"

"You're lying. I can see it in your eyes. Are you crying?"

"No, it's just..."

"What? Come on, you can tell me. I'm your best friend. Please trust me,"

"I do, but you'll be disgusted by me," I suddenly felt dizzy and ran away from him to throw up.

As soon as the contents were emptied from my stomach, I stood up shakily and swayed by the trash can. He'd caught up to me. "Esme, why are you so afraid of what I'll think of you? You're my best friend, forever and always. I promise you that with all my heart. Besides, judging by your appearance, he hurt you badly,"

"So? Why do I need to say anything else? He's put away now,"

"But the cops need evidence and we have to go to court. They need all the proof they can get,"

I took a huge breath. My heart was beating so fast I thought it would bounce out of my chest. "I'm broken, okay?" I almost yelled. "I'm a mess! He touched me everywhere! Didn't you see his boner when he described how he fucked that fifteen year old? Didn't you see her naked body on his phone? Did you see her eyes or her whole face? Did her hair show around her face? How many fifteen year old girls do you know, Carlisle? Why do you think you thought it was someone you were familiar with? Well, I'll give you a fat-ass clue! You've known this girl for eight years! God damn it!" My legs shook under me while my heart cracked. Giving him a lecture and a confession at the same time was one of the hardest things I had to do. I was scared to look at the reaction on his face, so I just snuck a peek out of the corner of my eye. I was still crying and I didn't realize he was sitting right next to me and holding me together while I was swiftly falling apart.

His normally warm blue eyes flashed with anger. He was livid. It was understandable. I would be mad at me too. "Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded.

"I don't know," I barely spoke.

"I already lost my mother! I don't think I could lose my one true love as well! I love you, Esme!"

My heart skipped a beat. Did he just say what I think he just said? The stupid tears kept running down my cheeks. "I was so scared to tell you," I said through my gasps.

"I love you, Esme,"

"He seized my arm and forced me to make out with him. He raped me, Carlisle. It's so painful...it hurts my heart to talk about it. I don't think I can move on. Help me! Please," I begged through my blubbering sobs.

"I love you, Esme," he repeated a third time. Did he really mean that?

I shook my head. "He shoved me into the forbidden room after chaining me up and binding me to his bed. He bit me and tore me to shreds. In the forbidden room, there was a ferocious dog barking and baring his teeth at me. Skeletons and dead bodies of his female victims were spread all over the dingy place. It was so dark! He had his friends help him, and I killed them. I killed them in cold blood! I'm a murderer! I'm also a tattletale. I called the cops on him. You can't love me, you just c-can't,"

"I love you, Esme!" he declared in a louder voice. It sounded so strong, so sure. My head spun, but I kept talking anyway.

"Stop it! I hate myself so much. I caused this whole town to go crazy...he put his finger up the baby's dress, beat up my mom and Lily, tricked all you guys, stared at all the women and girls in their bathing suits, made Rosie give him blow jobs through his pants..."

"He also showed himself to Ali and Bella and talked to my sister in a disgusting way. We knew he was sick soon after we thought he was weird. Strange was our first impression of him. Renee called the cops after he showed Emmett and Jasper porn pictures,"

Did he give up on loving me? I continued my rant through my heartbroken tears. "All you guys, even the little ones, have seen my breasts. I wasn't taking a shower. I was taking pictures of myself for him. He threatened to bother my friends and family if I didn't,"

"I love you Esme," He lifted my face to meet his. His eyes stared into mine before our lips joined. I was too shocked to respond as his tongue danced around my mouth. Before I knew it, we were both rolling on the sand in each other's arms while moaning. It felt so good to be with him this way. I was so overjoyed that he didn't push me away, even after my pathetic speech.

"I love you too, Carlisle," I pecked him on the lips one more time before he brought his lips to my forehead and swollen cheeks. He wiped away my tears and kissed my eyelids, being more gentle on my black one.

"You have beautiful eyes,"

"And you're the best kisser in the whole wide world. You are wonderful, much better than me,"

"Hey, hey, we're equals. I'm glad to know everything you told me just now. This is enough to tell the police. We can look him up on the computer and get you to a hospital later today, but now, we have to tell our parents and the rest of our friends and family, and when I get my hands on him, I'm gonna beat him up!"

"I'm shattered on the inside," I insisted. My eyes widened. "No, don't fight for me! He's too strong, he could kill you,"

He pulled me up with him and hand in hand, we ran back to our starting point. We were breathing hard, and my tears were almost gone. I was even laughing and collapsing in his arms when we made out again. It took away the pain, in a way. Carlisle's saliva mixing with my own was the perfect medicine. Now, I could imagine his hands on me instead of the pedophile's.

"Don't worry, baby, I can fix that. I'm planning on being a doctor someday, but I could start right now...and I would only beat him up with a bat or something, if they let me at him,"

"Thanks, honey," He drew me close and I stood on my tiptoes for another kiss. We continued like this for hours on end, until sunset hit. He wrapped his arms around my waist and traced circles against my wrist.

"I love the colors...the sun setting over the ocean is so gorgeous," I murmured.

"Oh yeah," he mumbled, leaning down to suck my neck. I giggled at the feeling and fell on top of him again.

Then, we realized our duties.

"Let's go," I whispered and he pulled out his phone to call Lily to take us home.

We had a mission to complete.

**Yesterday was a night out with friends and my boyfriend watching Footloose! That was awesome. Today was twelve hours at a boring soccer game that I suck at...the only fun part was I was with my boyfriend and some friends! I've been thinking about this all day long! Finally I got to write it! Enjoy and review please! Thank you to LaurenFacinelli, TeamCarlisleandEsme8, Just4Me, k8lin713, that kiwi chick, and CarlisleandEsme! And also thanks to those of you who have favorited this story or put it on alert! Love you all! Bye for now!**


	22. Every Last Bit of Information

**Carlisle POV:**

Esme's shocking revelation shook me to the core. I wondered when she became the object of that disgusting creep's fantasies. She was still holding onto my hand tightly as Lily drove us home to my house. We were going to research him as much as possible today. Luckily, he was locked up until a court date was set.

"Oh my God, Carlisle...I just remembered, how could I forget...he was a peeping tom too! You were right! You weren't joking. I thought you were, and so did you, but we were both so wrong," she sobbed. "Crap, my mascara!" Her makeup was running down her cheeks, so I wiped it away for her.

"I am disgusted that I trusted this horrible man for even one second, let alone an entire two weeks!" I spoke angrily for the first time since getting into her car. "I'm such a fucking asshole,"

"No, you're not. He's very clever. He had everyone fooled, and Lily and I were too scared to tell the truth," Esme tried to reassure me, but it only made me madder.

"Lily, you knew? You knew she was getting sexually harassed and you didn't tell anyone, including me, her best friend?" I yelled at her.

"It's not her fault either!" Esme insisted before Lily could answer me. "I told her not to tell anyone,"

"It was a secret between the both of us. I'm so sorry, Carlisle."

She turned around and I could tell she was crying. My comment must have stung her pretty bad. Maybe I _was_ being a little harsh, but they should have told me. She wiped her eyes, turned around, and continued driving.

"I'm an ugly piece of shit," Esme murmured, still hiccuping on her sobs. She gasped for breath and let out air shakily. "Oh-oh, God, you don't want me. I'm so broken,"

I put my finger to her lips and whispered, "Shhh, baby...you're still a beauty who holds a special place in my heart," I vowed, taking her hand that I wasn't holding and putting it to my heart. Then I stroked her hair and held her close.

Lily stopped the car by my house and got out without a word. I saw my dad come out and put his arm around her shoulders. They disappeared somewhere in my backyard. She needed some comforting.

I carried my girl inside because she was very unsteady on her feet. I set her down on the couch and made to go upstairs to get my laptop.

"Where are you going?" She sniffled.

"Just to my room. Do you want to come up with me?"

"I don't know. Go without me, I guess. I need to change anyway," she shrugged and dashed out my open door, I guess, to go home and put something else on. I ran upstairs and decided to wait until she came back. I knew it would take her at least fifteen minutes to change and come back to me.

I was stopped by Rosalie, Jasper, and Kate in the hallway. All three of them wanted to know what happened last night with all the sirens. Poor kids. They were so innocent when it came to this kind of stuff. At least Kate was old enough to understand about people being arrested. She'd seen it in movies all the time, but none of them knew how serious this situation had gotten. He'd never touched Jasper or Kate, but when he molested Rosalie, she didn't know why it was so horrible, it just felt weird to her.

"Well, guys, Charles was arrested. That means the cops handcuffed him and took him to jail. He forced Esme to do nasty things for him and he did bad things to her," I explained, not wanting to go into full detail. These were children I was talking to. Even if Kate didn't think of herself as a child, she was still underage and shouldn't know about this shit. They looked pretty happy about him being arrested because they loved Esme.

"Yay, he's gone! He can't hurt me and Mommy no more!" Rosalie cheered and jumped up and down.

"I thought he was nice! But if he was mean to Esme or Rosie or Lily then I don't like him," Jasper agreed.

"Yes!" Kate yelled, pumping her fist up and down. "He's such a monster!" she whispered to me. I knew she got it, and I nodded in confirmation. They returned to Kate's room to play with the girls' Barbies and Jasper's toy soldiers.

I went into my room, unplugged my laptop, and came back down with it in my arms, just in time for the door to close quietly and the sound of someone plopping themselves down on the couch made itself known. The sight I saw made me frozen for a second.

Esme was sitting on the couch in comfy clothes, her legs pulled up to her chest, her arms hugging her knees tightly under her chin. It was like she was unaware of my presence. I tried to get her attention, but to no avail.

"Esme?"

No answer.

"Esme!"

I tapped her shoulder and she shrieked, pressing her hand to her heart. I sighed and left her alone until she came out of her state of panic.

"These are my pajamas. I wear them for good luck if I'm ever alone."

She never looked at me, not even once. Only when I sat down and put the laptop on the table, did she accept me pulling her into my arms. I kissed her lightly on her forehead and she smiled a little bit.

"Ready to look up this guy?"

"I can't stand his face."

"You don't have to look. I'll just read what it says about him," I promised her. She nodded but kept her eyes on her hands.

Once I opened my laptop, brought up Google, and typed his name into the search bar, she clutched my hand so tightly that I hissed in pain. She apologized and loosened her hold. With closed eyes, she whispered, "Go for it. Get a grip, Esme," I assumed she was talking to herself. She buried her face in my shirt and I ran my hands through her curls.

"You're gonna be okay, sweetheart, I'm with you," I calmed her as I made the fateful click on the first link that came up. She whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut every time I said Charles' name. I tried to just say the word 'he', even if it said 'Charles' in the passage. I read his criminal record out loud and I felt her shivering in my arms.

"Alright, Esme, this is the first thing they say about him. This was written last month. Charles Evenson, a forty-two year old man, plays many different roles in society and then when he's arrested he escapes, changes his appearance, and kills all the cops and bombs the prison so everyone dies, then he moves to another town in some random state. He has formerly been known to work as a repairman, house remodeler, P.E coach (preferably the girls' swim team), clown for children's birthday parties, priest, doctor, transexual or female,or even a cop. Two years ago, he faked missing a limb, which resulted in the death of Dr. Cope. He has previously been a school teacher of varying grades. Four years ago, he pretended he was mentally challenged so his weird ways could be excused, thus conning the Special Olympics out of money and went to the Summer Games. It turned into a bloodbath. Half the girls were murdered after being raped or they were just annihilated," I read in a state of shock. So my Esme was walking home alone in the dark with a closet murderer?

"Oh my God, those poor girls and women. So innocent...especially the Special Olympics athletes..." she sobbed.

"Esme, you could have been killed," I muttered.

"I know that. But he just raped me and terrorized the neighborhood."

"He could have slaughtered the whole town!" I didn't realize my voice had gotten louder until Esme jumped. "Sorry, honey," I rubbed her shoulders soothingly and scrolled down to find more information about him. I didn't read exactly what it said; I just summed it up. "Aaah, we learn about his childhood as well. He was very into acting, and everyone picked on him for that, so he's taking revenge like a big baby. no girl wanted to date him and when a girl turned him down in the early 80's, when he was a teenager in his freshman year of high school or eighth grade, he killed her and got juvy...his parents abandoned him and he grew up in foster homes for his life until he turned college aged and then he started the fake jobs and stuff and erased all his criminal history and lied on his resumes and ran when people started getting suspicious."

"What a psycho. I had no idea."

"Nobody knows what his next quote, end quote, job and victims will be, but this small town realized what he was up to and before he killed anyone he got arrested."

"So we were lucky even if me and the girls got hurt or raped or sexually assaulted. He knows when they're gonna give him death row so he pretends to kill himself and be dead and then they put him in the morgue, right?"

"I guess so, but he is going to get what's coming to him, one of these days," I held her tighter against my chest if it was possible.

"I hope so. Hold on, I'll be back."

I didn't want to stop her from doing what she wanted. I released her so she could get out of my arms and walk into the kitchen. I wondered what she was doing there when I heard the crashing of silverware in a drawer, like she was going through our eating utensils.

"Are you okay in there?"

"I-I'm just getting something to eat."

I rushed into the kitchen to find her with a handful of knives. The sound of me coming in made her spin around with wide, frightened eyes, like a deer caught in the headlights. She dropped everything so it clattered to the floor. Quickly, she picked up one of the sharp knives and pretended to put it away, but when she held the gleaming blade against her wrist, ready to slice, I grabbed it from her and threw it across the room, not caring where it landed.

"Don't you dare hurt yourself, Esme Anne Platt!" I reprimanded her. I had never used that tone with her before, so she knew I meant business.

"It's too late, Carlisle. I've already cut myself, see?" She lifted up one of her sleeves and revealed a red line from her wrist to her elbow. "I told you I'm a mess. Sure you want to put me back together again?"

I gasped in horror. "I can help you. I'll put these away. You are not to go anywhere out of my sight or anyone else's, do you understand me?"

"That might work," she said, hugging herself around her torso. "I'm so weak right now. I'm sorry for causing you all this pain,"

"You're my girlfriend and my best friend at the same time. I would do anything for you, you know that, right?"

"Yes. I have to tell you though, I thought about killing myself after he raped me. I was thinking of ways to die. And you know, when I cut myself last night, I dug so deep that there is a huge blood stain on my carpet. I prayed that I would actually bleed to death, but when I saw everyone I would lose, I changed my mind and cried my eyes out."

"What the fuck!" I exclaimed. "Are you kidding me?"

"No," she said quietly and shook her head. "I'm sorry,"

"I can't believe you would just up and leave us all like that," I muttered distastefully.

"Wouldn't you do the same if you were in my place? What if some stupid old lady who called herself a cougar got a little frisky with you, huh? I bet you would just have to beat her up, right?" she asked coolly. "Think about that for a sec,"

"I would call the cops right away!" I snapped without thinking.

"You wouldn't be embarrassed? I must be a wimp then. Oh, that's really nice, Carlisle."

"I never said you were a wimp! Damn...I would probably be ashamed to admit it if she acted normal and friendly to the public, like_ he_ did."

"Exactly. So now you know how I feel! Dirty and damaged. He's inside me! I have the devil inside me! Cutting myself gets rid of all the soiled blood and lets all the shit out that he put in! I'm just cleansing my soul, that's all! I ha-have to," she sobbed.

"Listen to me, sweetheart," I lifted up her chin with a finger so her eyes could connect with mine. "Slitting your wrists doesn't do a thing besides make the situation worse. It becomes a habit, and pretty soon, you'll be hurting yourself for the smallest things! I know this is huge and I understand why you think this way, but the only real solution to your emotional and physical pain is going to counseling and a doctor. I can fix your broken heart easily and listening to stories of other women or girls who went through the same thing will solve this issue overtime. Those bruises and cuts will heal within a week or two, but your feelings of self-hatred will take a month or two to go away. I assure you that being with me will make it all better,"

"Really?"

I nodded my head yes. "I promise you that, love," I led her away from the scene and kissed her passionately. That was all she needed right now.

The doorbell rang just then, so we walked to the door to get it. It was Anne.

"Carlisle, thank you so much for taking care of my little angel," she breathed, enveloping me in a hug. "Oh, Esme, dear, are you all right?" She hugged her daughter close to her chest after letting me go.

"Mom, I'm fine...we had fun today. I told him everything. And uh...we're sort of a couple now," Esme blushed. I smiled down at her and stroked her curls lovingly.

"Aww, you two are so cute together! Let me get a picture," Anne gushed. Before we could protest, she had us in a romantic pose with my arms around her waist and snapped a picture of us on her cell phone.

"They're together?" my dad asked, dumbfounded. "Well, there's nothing I can say except 'Congratulations!'"

"Thanks," we said in unison.

"You guys are great together," Lily complimented us.

"Thank you!" we said again.

"So, Anne, what did you find?" Lily asked.

"I went to the hospital and they found a bump in the back of my head and bruises where he shoved me down the stairs. They said the black eye was enough evidence, though. I took Cynthia with me since Renee didn't want to see anything on her daughter that she hadn't seen already. Cynthia had bruising around her genitals, naturally, from a finger being thrust inside her. It made me sick, by the way. Lily and Rose should go for a checkup as well," Anne told my father and Lily. "And of course, Esme," she added in a whisper.

"Did he hurt anyone else?"

"Not that I know of...sweetie, come here," she waved Esme forward. "Honey, did you ever see him touch anyone else?"

"Physically, no, I swear on my life. He did make sexual comments to Kate and showed porn, or naked parts of my body, to every guy we know, making me out to be a slut," Esme's gaze dropped to the floor as our parents' and Lily's mouths dropped open in shock and disgust.

"Did you see it, son?" Dad demanded, his face going redder by the second. I jumped at his loud voice and thought up an answer in a split second.

"Calm down, Ed," Lily murmured soothingly.

"I wasn't remotely interested, so to shut him up, I glanced at it for a split second. I know that Jasper thought it was some random woman and so did the other guys, but none of us had a reaction to it, except the little ones who didn't know better."

"Okay. Okay..." he said through gritted teeth.

Anne was on the verge of hyperventilating as Dad stomped up the steps to drag the kids downstairs. Lily put her hand on her forehead and groaned. "I don't feel too good,"

"Oh my God..." Esme's mother whimpered. "No, not my baby! When the hell did this happen?"

"When you invited Lily and Rosalie and the ass over to our house," Esme answered her. "Mom, please don't break apart. That's my job,"

"I should have been watching him!" Anne growled at herself.

"I told Esme to call the police when she told me, but we were both too ashamed. I'm so sorry, Anne," Lily apologized instantly.

Anne said nothing but just cried in Lily's arms.

"Be honest with me. How much did you see?" Esme bit her lip.

"Just one of your breasts and a blurry shot of your face with the eyes and lips crossed out...that one gave me a clue because of the hair and the shape of the face."

"Yeah, you told me before. It's okay...I don't care anymore. You're my boyfriend, you're bound to see it eventually, if we last, that is."

"Esme, my darling, I'll be with you forever. I want to marry you and have babies with you," I vowed in her hair and kissed the top of her head.

"I dunno..."

"I'm positive."

"Your dad saw me naked, didn't he? The bastard showed him too, I bet."

"He's a religious freak. He didn't want to see it, so the loser didn't push it."

"Oh, thank God," Esme breathed a sigh of relief as the children and Dad come downstairs.

"I'm sorry, Daddy! I didn't mean to! I really thought it was something from one of your old Playboy magazines!" Jasper profusely apologized. He couldn't even look at Esme anymore. I could tell he was afraid to.

"I know you didn't, buddy. Charles tricked everyone."

"Can you not say his name, Mr. Cullen?" Esme asked in a soft voice.

Kate and Rosalie were following Jasper down the stairs, and they squeezed past him to hug Esme. My dad apologized to her and went into the other room to avoid any awkwardness.

"I hate myself for being perverted! I had no idea that was you!"

Esme rolled her eyes. "It's fine. Edward and Emmett saw the pictures as well. You're not a bad kid. You're still Carlisle's little bro," She walked over to him and gave him a noogie. "All better?"

"Yep! Thanks Esme!"

"Glad that's over with," Kate sighed. "I told him not to look..."

"But you never told me why," Jasper pouted at his older sister and stuck out his tongue.

"Thanks for trying to help, Katie, but now that he's arrested, all we have to do is go to court and have me medically examined."

She handled sibling squabbles so well. That was one of the reasons why I loved her so much.

Dad drove me, her, Lily, and Rosalie to the hospital so police could have evidence of the crimes committed against Lily, Rosalie, and Esme. The doctors discovered Lily was also raped and Rosalie was abused greatly. She told them that he stuck something gross in her mouth, but I knew better. When she left the room with her mom and my dad, Esme and I told their female doctor, Dr. Gerandy, that Charles forced Rosalie to give him a blow job through his pants. There were multiple red handprint marks on the little girl's backside and bottom, along with her limbs which he had squeezed tightly so she couldn't get out of his grasp. The doctor wrote that information on his chart and then moved on to Esme.

"Okay, young lady, would you feel more comfortable if your boyfriend steps out?"

"He can stay here, as long as he doesn't look at my privates," Esme said, giving me a small smile.

"I won't look," I swore.

I was sick after her appointment. She had indeed been roughly raped and there were dark reddish-purple bruises, bites around her nipples and major tearing in her vagina, the doctor reported to me.

"It's so tragic. Four of these victims came into my office today and all of them were saying they were assaulted by the same perp. Thank you so much for bringing them in," Dr. Gerandy told my father. "I already told my earlier patient's husband thanks. I hope your family will be okay,"

"So do I. Thank you, ma'am," Dad said, shaking the doctor's hand.

She smiled fondly at him and the rest of us. "You're very welcome. And good luck in court. I hope they get this guy and give him the death penalty."

"He deserves it!" Esme agreed.

"He does," Lily echoed.

"Bye-bye!" Rosalie waved at the doctor.

Over the next twelve hours, the news spread like wildfire. Esme had a few nightmares and she called me when she woke up crying from them. She spent time with her girls until we all had to actually go to court in our formal attire.

We were ready to take this criminal down and behind bars for the rest of his life.

**I'm immensely sorry for making you all wait for almost a month! New ideas have been popping up in my head as I was writing this chapter and lots of them are out now, like the oneshots about Peter&Elizabeth and the one I wrote for Thanksgiving, plus two chapters of my newest story, Here In Your Arms (so please check those out and leave a comment if you want)! To make up for my horrible writers block with this chapter and My Other Half, I've provided an extra long chapter for you! So read and review please! I'll be doing lots of crime and justice research for next chapter so it might take a while to get up there...but thank you so much to reviewers k8ln713, Just4Me, that kiwi chick, LaurenFacinelli, CarlisleandEsme and TeamCarlisleandEsme8, and also to those who have favorited or added this story to alerts! I love the support! Plus, what did you guys think of Breaking Dawn? I thought it was AMAZING! Tell me your favorite parts! Mine was when Carlisle saved Esme from the wolves *swoon*!**


	23. Letting it all Out

Esme POV:

"Renee, I don't want to wear that!" I snapped when she pulled out my black skirt and dark purple blouse.

"What's wrong with this outfit? It's formal, but buisnesslike, just like what people wear when they go to court," she insisted.

"I don't even want to go!" I groaned. "I don't want him seeing me with any part of my skin showing. I'd rather go as a nun."

"Sweetie, you have to give your statement or the police will never get your word and believe that we're lying."

"They have medical evidence and some of us have physical proof!"

"Yes, that you and some others were raped. But they don't know anything else that happened before, such as him making you sext him and him trying to kiss you...that is very important. You need to be heard! Now get the hell out of that bed and get dressed, missy!" Before I could complain, she ripped the sheets off of me and I reluctantly left my comfortable bed.

"Renee, that blouse shows way too much cleavage, and the skirt's very short. It's too sexy."

"Alright," she sighed. "You pick it."

I chose to wear nice black dress pants and a three quarter length white blouse with buttons up to my collarbone. My hair was in a neat bun and I was finally ready to go.

It wasn't long before we were in the huge courtroom. I sat down between Carlisle and Renee. Once they brought _him_ out in an orange jumpsuit, with _his_ hands locked behind his back, _his_ hair frazzled and greasy, _his_ face a mess, I felt dizzy. So this is how people feel when they see their rapist in court. I wiped a few beads of sweat off my forehead and instinctively covered up my chest, even though my blouse was concealing it. Everything was better with my clothes on. Every time I looked at _him_, though, I felt like I was naked. Too exposed. It was nerve wracking. I kept my eyes down so it wouldn't be as bad.

"Esme, breathe," Carlisle murmured.

I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding. I was way too tense, so Carlisle massaged my shoulders.

"Oh, God," I mumbled shakily when he was dragged into the courtroom. Carlisle put his hand on my leg to still it from jiggling. The tension was rising and I had an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach. I really hoped I wouldn't vomit on everyone's shoes when I went up there, or worse, in the middle of my statement.

"You'll be fine, baby," Carlisle squeezed my hand and rubbed circles on top of it reassuringly. "You're with me, he can't touch you,"

"He's eyeballing me," I noticed aloud. My voice was trembling as I spoke.

"Look at me, okay? Just look right here," He pointed at his eyes and I tried to stare at him, but Charles' leering gaze bored into my skull. I whimpered but held back my tears. I couldn't cry until after this was over.

The bailiff walked in and said, "All rise," so we did. My legs felt like jelly, so I leaned on Carlisle for support. It wasn't until the judge sat down that we could sit back in our seats.

"Order in the court, please! This is the case of Platt v. Evenson. Miss. Esme Platt is testifying against Mr. Charles Evenson." the judge announced. A lanky man that my parents hired, J. Jenks, was my lawyer in this case. He was speaking first.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, this is a case of child molestation, wherein my client, Miss Esme Platt, says she was viciously raped by her neighbor, Mr. Charles Evenson, on the afternoon and evening of June 15th, 2011. She claims that he was involved in other crimes all over the nation, impersonating different people in positions of authority. This time, he was a stepfather of the child she babysat. She found skeletons when she was locked in a forbidden room and it is assumed he was a serial killer. Judging by the research her parents printed out for us, the pictures that police took of his house in complete disarray, police reports when two women called the police, pictures of four victims' injuries, and a gun that was found in one of his drawers in his bedroom, he is a dangerous criminal."

Another man stepped forward. He must have been the defense attorney. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my client, Mr. Charles Evenson, says none of this happened. He noticed her when she walked in his door at first, and he wanted to act as a father to her. He was shy as a child and he's still bashful now. He didn't mean any harm. He is mentally challenged and thought of himself as a fifteen year old. He didn't think it was flirty; he just thought it was friendly behavior. He has no idea who any of you are, he only knows Esme and his stepdaughter and wife, who he loves dearly. He was crying when he learned that Esme got into a terrible accident with her mother and his wife while they were driving home from shopping."

"He's making this up! He lied to his lawyer!" I hissed at Carlisle and Renee. "I'm fucking going up there."

They gave me a hug and wished me good luck.

"You go, girl," Renee whispered and we smiled at each other.

"Good luck, honey," Carlisle added and gave me a short but sweet kiss.

"Miss Platt, you can now testify against Mr. Evenson," my lawyer allowed me, so I stood up and walked to the podium, trying to appear confident. "Now, do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"

"I do," I responded, placing my right hand on the Bible.

I was prepared to answer cross examination questions by Charles' lawyer, but when we actually sat down across from each other, I had too many butterflies fluttering around in my stomach. I had never done this before.

"So Esme," he began. "You're a fifteen year old babysitter. Did you volunteer to babysit this little girl, or did her parents hire you as a sitter for her?"

"They...they hired me," I answered softly. I hoped he could hear me.

"They hired you. Okay. Next question. When did you notice my client was too close to you for comfort?"

"He was creepy the first night, but not enough for me to notice. I guess I should have realized the signs when he squeezed my hand after dropping me off at my house," I clasped my hands together, and placed them in my lap to keep myself from fiddling.

"Why did you let him drop you off if you thought he was acting a bit off?"

"I had no idea until he said I was pretty. I freaked out and ran home," I looked down at my feet and tried to find a way to keep them from dangling off the seat. I was too high up. My toes wouldn't touch the ground.

"When Charles started acting strange, why did you keep going over there?"

I closed my eyes and bit my lip hard. I really had no answer for that one and it was hard to keep my eyes focused on the man across from me.

"Miss?" he asked when I didn't respond.

I took a short breath, in and out. "I-I couldn't just stop going for no reason. I didn't want to explain my reason to anyone. It seemed silly at the time."

"Why did it seem silly to you?"

"Well, he just acted like a friendly neighbor. Sure, he asked weird and personal questions and he gave me compliments, but if I complained, people would think I was being rude to someone who was trying to be my friend."

"So you thought he was a kind man who was simply trying to get to know you?"

"Yes, sir."

"And when he called you pretty, you ran home."

"Yes, sir."

"Did he say you were pretty in a certain way, like he had a sexual fetish for you?"

"It seemed that way. He told me that guys in my high school should be falling all over me," I gulped and shuddered.

"Did you report that to anyone else if it sounded suspicious to you?"

"Yes, sir, I told his wife, Lily."

"And what did she do about it?"

"She told him to leave me alone, but their fighting increased the more she kept him away from me."

"She didn't call the cops?"

"No. She couldn't because she was afraid. He was already making friends with my family and my guy friends. He even hosted a pool party to make himself seem normal. My girl friends were weirded out by him, but they just ignored him."

"A pool party. What did he do at the pool party to make himself seem normal?"

"He talked to everyone and the guys thought he was cool because he acted like a teenager instead of a forty-two year old man."

"What did he do to make your girl friends think he was strange?"

"He asked them if they would babysit his daughter and asked them their names. They warned me to stay away from him. I tried as much as I could, but at the pool party, he tricked me by asking my boyfriend, Carlisle, to get drinks so he could be alone with me once I got out of the pool to apply sunscreen on myself. He was previously talking to my parents, or so I thought."

"So he chose to walk away from the adults he was talking to?"

"Yes, sir. He started putting sunscreen on me when I finished putting it on everywhere that I could reach. I needed someone to help me with my back, and he chose the perfect opportunity to fake that he was helping me. He just wanted to touch me," As I remembered every specific thing he did to me, my eyes burned and watered slightly. I blinked and tried to improve my vision.

"Why did he want to touch you?"

"Because he's a pedophile."

"Were you wearing revealing clothing?"

"I was in a tankini; it was a pool party."

"Are you sure you were not trying to seduce him?"

"Yes, sir, I am positive," I wiped my eyes with the pad of my thumb and sniffled.

"So, you did not enjoy this affection he was showing you?"

"No. I hated it and I was disgusted."

"Do you consider yourself to be a sex object?"

I looked out at my audience and all of them gasped in irritated shock. I covered my face in my hands and groaned. Was he trying to say I was a slut who actually wanted it?

"Objection, your Honor, the question assumes facts not in evidence." my lawyer declared.

"Sustained." the judge replied.

"Were you a virgin before you were raped?"

"Yes, sir."

"Were you rebellious before?"

"A little bit."

"Did you involve yourself in dangerous behavior, such as bungee jumping or smoking and or drinking?"

What did that have to do with anything?

"Objection, your Honor, the question assumes facts not in evidence."

"Sustained."

"What did he do after putting the sunscreen on your back?"

Finally, he was back on topic. I cleared my throat so my voice could be louder. It was too quiet before.

"My mom did the rest. She thought he was only trying to help."

My eyes flickered to the audience and I caught my mom looking at me with an apologetic smile and clutching onto Eric's hand. With her other arm, she held the twins in her lap, who were stretching and kicking their feet, obviously bored and not knowing what was going on with their sister. My breath wavered as I waited for the next question to fly at me.

"She came right away?"

"Yes, she saw it just in time." I sat up straighter in my seat, hoping my anxiousness would go away now that I did that. What was I so worried about? I was the innocent one!

"What happened after the sunscreen fiasco?"

"I was later pushed roughly into the pool and he started tickling me. I almost drowned."

"Did he touch you in any inappropriate places?"

"Not at that time. He grabbed me and tried to kiss me when I went to get ice cream with my mom. He told her his wife wanted to talk to her, so she left the room."

"And she trusted him at that time, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"You said he _tried_ to kiss you. How did he fail?"

"His wife came in and saved me." I saw Lily smile at me and I managed a tiny grin back.

"Did you tell him no?"

"Yes, sir. I told him not to touch me because I'm only fifteen. But I was sexually harassed."

"Only you and his wife knew about his behavior?"

"Yes, sir," I confirmed.

"Did either of you act traumatized from this experience?"

"I had nightmares of him drugging me and raping me, and his wife was raped after she scolded him for trying to kiss me. My boyfriend called me the day your client was sexting me and making me send him nasty pictures of myself. Carlisle saw that I was acting different from my usual self ever since that day."

"Did you send Mr. Evenson sexts?"

"Yes, sir."

I was so ashamed of myself, too. I looked at the Swans and Emmett and Jasper were in Charlie's lap and they held Alice and Rosalie's hands on either side of them. Edward and Bella were off to the side. Renee leaned her head on Charlie's shoulder and he stroked her arm calmingly. Carlisle was holding his sister protectively and glaring at my alleged abuser and rapist. I crossed and uncrossed my legs for a few minutes.

"Why?"

"He wouldn't quit harassing the females in my family or my girl friends. He said if I sent him pictures of myself naked, he'd stop."

"So you gave him free porn to protect your loved ones?"

"Yes, sir."

"What did he do with those pictures?"

"He showed them to all my guy friends, the little boys I babysit, and the men I know and confide in, such as my stepfather and my boyfriend's father."

"Do you have any pictures in your phone of him?"

"He didn't send me anything. He showed me his genitals in the swimming pool and when he went to the bathroom in front of me in my own house."

"Why was he at your house?"

"My mom invited him and his wife over for a double date. She still liked him okay."

"So everyone but you and his wife were clueless?"

"Yes, sir."

"Do you have evidence that you sent him anything?"

"No, sir, I deleted the texts because I felt sick after doing that. He has my pictures on his phone, though."

"His phone was confiscated when he was arrested. Other than the pictures that we don't know if he made you take or not, when did you start telling people, one by one, about his behavior?"

I felt a lump in my throat. "H-he made me sext him! I-I swear, I never lie, especially not in court!" My head was spinning and I felt like I was about to puke.

"Okay, okay, miss, I believe you. Now, can you answer the question I just asked you?"

"Renee, my best friend, was passing around her newborn baby at our local ice cream place, and he happened to be there with us and his family. Charlie thought it would be okay for your client to take the baby on a little walk. My rapist's wife and I followed him and saw him sticking his finger up the baby's dress. She wouldn't stop crying if she wasn't in my arms, and my friend demanded to know what was wrong, so I confessed it to her. She told all the other girls and women what was going on." I wiped away my tears quickly before they came streaming down my cheeks.

"Why didn't anyone stop your friend's husband from letting my client have the baby?"

"It seems absurd not to let someone hold a baby."

"What else happened that day?"

"I saw him physically and sexually abusing his wife and daughter. He made his daughter give him a blow job through his pants and later, his wife and daughter left him and ran to Carlisle's house because my attacker's wife fell in love with my boyfriend's father. That was when the guys started thinking your client was a bad influence. They didn't know he was a criminal until my boyfriend saw me battered after I was raped."

"Neither of you told anyone what was going on?"

"Not until after he raped me, locked me in a dark room, and allowed two men to involve me in a threesome. I killed them in self-defense, called the cops and jumped out the window to escape."

"Describe the rape in full detail, please."

I chose to look at the clock on the wall instead of into the lawyer's eyes.

"First, he climbed through my window, where he'd confessed that he was a peeping tom at all along while he raped me. That's how he got into my house. He snuck up behind my mom and I, we were alone, and he knocked my mom to the floor, rendering her unconscious for a while until my stepdad and my boyfriend found her. Your client threw me over his shoulder, carried me to his house, told me how he first started loving me and lusting after me, when he saw me bend over, showing my panties under my skirt, I guess the wind blew my skirt up, and I was helping a kid who fell off some swings in the park. He pushed me into a wall, and started kissing me, so I bit his tongue to make him get off me. He slapped me, punched me, forced me to take off my clothes, and when I refused, he ripped open my shirt. He was about to take off my pants, but then he gave me a black eye. He went into his closet and bound me like you do in S&M, and he sat on me and tore off the rest of my clothes. I was completely defenseless under him. I couldn't breathe; I was too scared to say anything else. I resisted him, but it never worked. He was too strong. He touched me in my private parts, bit at my breasts, and then he sucked where I had my monthly gift. There was penetration during the rape and he said he did it because I told everyone what was happening. After that, he got off me and I covered myself with the sheets. He threatened to kill me if I didn't let him take pictures of me naked in sexual positions. Later, he made me give him a blow job. Then, he told me he showed everyone porn pictures from his phone of me. You know what happened after; he took me into the forbidden room and I was raped by his friends. That night, I cut myself," I couldn't help but break down into tears.

"And were you ever in a car accident?"

"N-no, these injuries were from when I was raped, I-I s-swear by the Bible. It's too p-painful to think about," I sobbed. "My eye is blackened by his fist! And look, I have handprints!" I fiercely rolled up my sleeves to show him.

"Has it ever occured to you, Miss Platt, that my client is mentally handicapped?"

"P-please, sir, believe me, he-he's lying!" I stammered. "How-how could he be mentally handicapped if he did such a good job of inflicting pain on me?" I gripped the edges of the seat and saw red. How could his stupid lawyer do this to me? "I-I would never accuse an innocent man of anything! He ra-raped a-and k-killed mentally challenged girls in the Special Olympics! We-we have proof!"

"Okay, thank you. You may sit down."

_He_ shoved me to the side when the judge and his lawyer weren't looking, and I froze.

"You make me horny. I love this power I have over you, sex on legs," he whispered to me, and I almost tripped trying to get back to my spot between Carlisle and Renee. Carlisle wrapped his arms around my waist and Renee held my hand tightly and rubbed it soothingly.

"You did so wonderful, sweetheart," Carlisle whispered to me and kissed my forehead.

"Thanks, babe," I responded and kissed him back.

"Of course you did great. What did Charles say to you? I saw him..." Renee said.

I shivered. "He loves how he has power over me and I make him horny and to him, I'm sex on legs."

"Dickface!" they said in unison, and I giggled behind my palms.

"Miss Platt, do you have any witnesses to call to the stand?" the judge asked me.

"Yes, my boyfriend, Carlisle Cullen, his sister, Kate Cullen, my best girl friend, Renee Swan, your client's daughter, Rosalie Hale, and your client's wife, Lily Hale."

"Very well. You five may step up to the witness stand."

After giving me hugs, they left to give their further evidence. I collapsed into the seat next to my mom. I snuggled up to her and the twins sat in my stepfather's lap.

"There's my baby. How are you feeling?"

"I'm glad it's over and I don't have to talk anymore."

"You're special to me, sweetie. Now let's see how your friends back you up."

"Okay." I nodded and gave them a thumbs up as they started to speak.

**So that's part one of the court case...next one's coming up very soon! Like tomorrow or Sunday! Thank you to reviewers IdontbelieveinLOVE, livi harkness, cuddyannie, TeamCarlisleandEsme8, that kiwi chick, CarlisleandEsme, k8ln713, and Just4Me!**


	24. Witnesses' Evidence

Carlisle POV:

We got up, put our right hands on the Bible, swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and the other lawyer instructed us, "I need you all to attest to what you saw and experienced."

"I'll go first, sir," I volunteered.

"Okay, Mr. Cullen, how old are you?"

"I'm fifteen, sir."

"When you met Mr. Evenson, what did you think of him?"

"I thought he was pretty nice because he and his family came up to us while my girlfriend, Esme, and I were at the park. He and his wife, Lily, and daughter, Rosalie said hi to us and it was a pretty normal interaction. I didn't think he was weird until he started rapping the Antoine Dobson song with my buddies and I. I thought maybe he was having a midlife crisis."

"What did he do to further your suspicions?"

"He showed me, my nine year old brother, my dad, and all my friends that were boys, pornography pictures of my girlfriend. I didn't know it was my girlfriend at the time, though, and neither did the other guys. Only small parts of her body were shown. He was showing it to every guy we both know, though. Then, I just thought he was a bad influence. Lily to my house one night with her little girl and she was beat up by Mr. Evenson. She has the injuries to prove it. By that time, I knew Mr. Evenson was an abuser and I wondered who else he hurt. He made a pass at my sister, Kate, telling her she was becoming quite a woman," I blew out a breath through my gritted teeth and clenched and unclenched my fists that were balled up in my lap.

"He didn't touch your sister, though, right?"

"No, sir. He abused his wife, his daughter, my girlfriend, and my girlfriend's mom, Anne. He knocked Esme's mom unconscious so he could take Esme to his house and rape her." I looked over at Esme and her mom, wrapped in each other's embrace, and just that scene calmed me down. I couldn't lose my temper. I wouldn't. But seeing that snake's face again...I wanted to blow up and kill him for what he did to my girl and the others I knew and loved!

"You are saying he kidnapped your girlfriend temporarily?"

"Yes, sir."

"And you never knew what she was going through before she was raped?"

"Not until I saw her broken, bruised, and limping outside her house the night it happened. Mr. Evenson happened to walk by and Esme gave me a hug. When he yelled, "BOO!" at us, she screamed inside my shirt. It broke my heart, and I knew he was the cause of her pain when he ran away after I asked him if his new girlfriend he was bragging about was anyone I knew." _The asshole!_ my mind screamed. "He made it pretty clear by the look in his eyes, that he was lusting after her. She was so terrified that she couldn't even look at him."

"How did he look when he was around her?"

"I never noticed until after she got raped. That's when it was the most apparent. At first, I thought he was having a midlife crisis, then, I thought he was just a bad influence since he lied, and by the time Esme was in my arms and Mr. Evenson was staring at her with his eyes glazed over and he was drooling like a hungry animal, that was the moment I knew he was a monster, and not just physically abusive to his wife."

"Was she sobbing her heart out when he was talking to her?"

"She started crying into my shirt and I comforted her. She really started to shake when Mr. Evenson came by us. I saw the abuse he inflicted on her and the way she walked, and I just knew he did something to her. I knew it was him."

"Did she give you any clues?"

"She gave me signs that something was seriously wrong with her. Crying at random times, doing things she usually never did, see, we were best friends before yesterday, for eight years, so we knew each other extremely well. At the end of the pool party, she was crying. I wondered why but she told me nothing was wrong. This caused issues between us because she kept telling me he was a liar and he hid porn magazines under his bed. She said the hot tub was a little crowded when Mr. Evenson joined us to sit between the two of us and he put his arms around us both. Mr. Evenson told me a fake story about how he met his wife and how he would never let them near danger. He lied and said that he wanted to protect his favorite girls from all the rapists and thugs in the neighborhood and that he saved his wife from her abusive deceased husband. I told my girlfriend this, and she said the deceased husband never hurt your client's wife. When I called Esme one day, she didn't pick up until the third ring. When she finally did answer, she sounded hysterical and on the verge of tears. I knew something was wrong when I ran to her house and found her wrapped in a towel. She said she was taking a shower, but she was actually being forced to send Mr. Evenson porn pictures of herself. She screamed at me to get out and that was our worst fight. We're very close, so we don't have many. Later, we went to the mall and movies. She was being sexually harassed by an old man, a man in his twenties was upskirting her, and several guys walked past her and called her 'fresh meat'. She seemed so scared and moved herself impossibly closer to my side from then on."

"Thank you, Mr. Cullen. Next witness, please?"

Renee followed after me. I put my hands on my sister's shoulders and Rosalie put her arms around Lily's waist and laid her head on her mom's belly.

"Mrs. Swan, first question. Have you known Ms. Platt for a long time now? I just want to see if you know her as well as Mr. Cullen does."

"Yes, sir. I'm twenty-three, so eight years older than her. We've known each other since she was a baby. I was close friends with her mother before she was born." She knew her longer than I did.

"Okay. So, did she ever voice her opinions about Mr. Evenson to you?"

"She barely talked about him until we started getting suspicious of him. When we first passed his house, she mentioned him and his family briefly. She said he was nice, but he almost ran us over with his motorcycle. We were walking up the street to go have pizza for dinner on a sleepover one night. When we came back, he was asking us our names and if we could babysit his daughter. It was like he was trying to get to know us, and it was creepy."

Esme almost got ran over by a motorcycle? So that's why the girls ran away...the puzzle was starting to be put together. There were so many pieces Esme left out that she probably forgot because the details were so small, but whatever she didn't get in her statement, we were getting them in ours. This would improve our chance of winning.

"Did you tell her that?"

"Yes, sir. I told her to stay away from him as much as she could." And I guess she listened.

"She never acted like anything was wrong until when?"

"Your client took my baby, Cynthia, from my husband's arms. I tried to tell my husband, Charlie, to give her back to me, but I didn't want to tell someone they couldn't take a baby on a walk. That seems weird. When little Cynthia was back in my arms, she wouldn't quit crying, so I interrogated my best friend about why my baby was so upset. She finally broke down and told me my daughter was sexually violated by your client."

I saw Charlie press his fist against his mouth as he held his baby tighter against his chest. He was fuming and Renee nervously bit her lip. She tapped her fingers on the arm of the chair and tucked a lock of her brown hair behind her ear.

"And that's when you told the rest of the girls and women?"

"Yes, sir. I was too scared to tell my husband, or any of the other guys in fact. Luckily, Charlie punched him in the face because of what Mr. Evenson did to my other babies."

"You said he sexually violated your newborn daughter, am I correct?"

"Yes, sir, she was only a few days old."

"So Esme wasn't the only one he molested?"

"No, sir. But he did have it out for Esme. She was his obsession."

"I see. What did he do to your other children?"

"He showed my six and eight year old daughters, Bella and Alice, his genitals and let my nine year old son, Emmett, look at porn of my best friend."

"So graphic conduct was seen by children under the age of ten." I seethed, even though I knew that already. The way the lawyer said it just made it worse.

"Yes, sir. That's when I called the police. We wanted the guys to figure it out, so that's why we waited."

"You didn't call the police after your baby was molested?"

"No, sir. There was no evidence, so we couldn't. Once he started giving girls and women, Esme, Anne, Lily, and Rosalie, to name them specifically, bruises and gaping wounds, the calls started and he was arrested two nights ago, the night Esme was raped."

"Thank you, Mrs. Swan. That's all the questions I have for you. Next witness, please."

Lily stepped up to the chair and sat down across from the defense attorney.

"Ms. Hale, your turn is up. How old are you?"

"I'm thirty-five, sir."

"Are you are my client's wife?"

"Not anymore, but we haven't officially divorced yet. I left him." Lily played with the hem of her shirt and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Why did you leave him?"

"I was in love with another man and your client raped my daughter's babysitter."

"What is your history with Mr. Evenson?"

"I met him four years ago, when I was a nurse taking care of him when he was recovering from alcohol abuse. He fell in love with me and took care of my daughter like she was his own. He really had me going for the first two years, and he made me feel like myself again ever since my previous husband, my daughter's biological father, passed on. He started being controlling two years ago, giving my daughter rides to school on his motorcycle, not letting me drive, yelling at me for small things, and he physically and sexually abused me ever since I told him to leave my babysitter alone after the pool party he threw to make himself seem like part of the neighborhood and not an outcast." Yeah, what a smart move that was. He had us going for a week there. I knew he was a dangerous guy! I should have been more careful and not so gullible in believing his bullshit lies!

"As Mrs. Swan admitted before, Miss Platt was not the first girl he laid his hands on. Who else did he harass, besides you, the infant, and the young Swan girls?"

"He forced my daughter, Rosalie, to give him a blow job, and she's only seven!"

"Where were you during this time?"

"I was knocked out and could barely move. He was trapping Esme on the couch next to him and then he locked us in the forbidden room for a few hours without food or water. When I got my strength back, I choked him momentarily and ran out of the house with Esme and Rose."

Renee hugged Rosalie and rocked her from side to side, because the poor little girl looked distraught. This must have been so hard on her.

"The most important thing I want to ask you is...a lot of rape victims or victims of sexual harassment confide in a friend to not tell anyone what happened to them until it's too late. Fortunately, that is not the case with Miss Platt, but you have put her in danger. Why did you not report it?"

"There was no evidence!" Lily hollered at him, making us all jump. "I wanted to call the cops the day she was forced to send him porn pictures, but she didn't let me, she said she was ashamed, and I never knew he would rape her or try to kill her. I was even shocked that he killed before."

"Okay, I'm sorry, ma'am. Anything else you want to add before I let you go?"

"No, thank you, sir," she said after a minute or two of thinking. She got up off the chair and stood behind us after helping her daughter into the chair.

"Miss Hale, you are very young, younger than Miss Platt," the lawyer told Rosalie. "How old are you, little lady?"

"I'm seven."

"And Ms. Hale is your birth mother?"

"Yes, sir."

"Your birth father...he passed away four years ago?"

"Yes, sir."

"So Mr. Evenson came into the picture. Your mom said he treated you and her very well until two years ago. He took you to school on a motorcycle. How was that for you?"

Lily ran her fingers through her daughter's hair.

"It was too scary. I didn't like it! I thought I was gonna fall off and die!"

"Your mom never took you to school?"

"Mr. Evenson never wanted her to drive because he's a mean man!"

"What did he do to make you so upset?"

"Mommy and him were always yelling at each other and sometimes he would hurt her. I hate when my mommy gets hurt! I liked my old daddy better!" Lily nodded in agreement.

"I see. I'm very sorry about that, dear. I guess you loved your babysitter very much?"

"I still do! She's the best!"

"Did you notice your stepfather's attraction to her?"

"He always cleaned up the house real nice and he wanted to get the door for her every time. He said she was his favorite babysitter and he gave her flowers for being so great. Sometimes, I wondered if he was gonna leave Mommy for the babysitter. Then, I thought it would be weird to have a stepmommy who's eight years older than I am." Rose crinkled her nose in distaste. Lily pursed her lips and let out a low hum.

"How did he treat you, as poorly as he treated your mom?"

"He didn't seem to love me anymore once my babysitter arrived. He didn't kiss me goodnight or read me bedtime stories...he said he had better things to think about and whenever my babysitter came over, he was grabbing down here. I asked him if he had to go pee, but he told me to shut up and mind my own business. Mommy was in the room and told me to go someplace with her."

"Did he ever hit you anyplace?"

"Yes, right here, really hard!" Rosalie pointed to her bottom. "It left a red mark. He was punishing me for wondering what was going on downstairs. There was a lot of screaming and bad words. He told me to go to bed, but I wanted to see what was the matter with Mommy and my babysitter. I tried to run away from him, but he made me cry! He laid me in his lap and I felt something weird poking in my mouth, near my tongue. It tasted like a wet rock! It was gross!"

The way she explained it sounded so innocent and it hurt me deep inside. She was a little sister to me, even though we weren't related by blood.

"And then he took you into a dark room with your mom?"

"Yes, and there was a lot of creepy stuff there. No wonder my friends think it's haunted!"

I had to hand it to her. She was doing so well for a child under the age of ten. Lily had probably rehearsed this with her or at least prepared her in some way.

"Your friends think it's haunted?"

"Yes, they rang the doorbell before and ran away, shouting that it was haunted and something happened in that house. They're right! It's not just our imaginations or that we've been watching too many scary movies! And when I was playing with my babysitter's four year old sisters, Vera and Bree, he pulled our dresses up. And then Esme's brother Eddie complained of a monster under his bed, in his closet, and shadows outside Esme's window when he and Esme switched rooms one night. It made us scared! I don't like him at all! Eeewww!"

He pulled up Esme's baby sisters' dresses? I glanced at Esme, wide eyed, and she gave me a nod and sad smile back.

"Where was Esme or any adults during this time when you kids were playing alone?"

"Esme was going potty. Mommy and Esme's parents were downstairs."

"And you ran away after Mr. Evenson hurt you?"

"Yes, to Mommy's new boyfriend's house! That made me feel so happy!"

"I'm glad things are good for you now. Are you finished answering questions?"

"I'm in tip-top shape!"

"Thank you, miss. Last witness to the stand, please. Miss Cullen...you are Mr. Cullen's younger sister?" the lawyer asked as Rosalie jumped off the seat and into Kate's arms. Kate replaced Rosalie's spot.

"Yes, sir, I'm eleven."

"Your older brother mentioned that Mr. Evenson made a pass at you...what were you doing by yourself around that man?"

Why do lawyers ask stuff like that? It's like they're trying to blame the victim!

"I was walking home alone with my girls from our girls night, and we didn't expect him to be there. He wolf-whistled at us and said we were becoming quite young ladies, and then he said to me, personally, that I was quite a girl. So, we swore at him and ran off."

_Good girl!_ I cheered mentally. _That's my baby sister._

"He didn't touch you or try to catch you?"

"No, sir, he was just trying to make Esme riled up by bothering all the girls and women she knew. But I was creeped out by that statement, especially when he called me Katie, which is what nobody calls me unless they know me really well, like my friends in the neighborhood or my dad and hopefully, soon to be stepmom." Lily beamed when she said that.

"Okay, thank you, miss. That's the last of the questions I have for you. Please sit down, with the others."

I followed them to their original seats, and Esme got out of her mom's embrace and came back to me. Her heart wasn't beating as fast, which meant she had calmed down some.

"Are you okay?" I asked her worriedly as I pulled her back into my arms. She nodded against my chest.

"I just don't want to hear his voice again...or see his face."

"Concentrate on what the lawyer is asking him, then," I suggested. "I'll protect you. I also think you should go to therapy."

"Thank you. I'd probably do better and be back to myself after a few sessions. I just don't know how I could have been so naive..."

"You knew what was up. The rest of us had no clue. You were confusing us. We were the naive ones," Renee said gently, smoothing Esme's bangs away from her eyes.

"I know. I'm sorry for not telling you," Esme's voice broke on the last word.

"Better late than never," Carmen said nonchalantly.

"Dry those eyes, baby," I murmured and then kissed my girl. She smiled under my lips and blushed as I kissed her tears away. "The hard part's over. Now, all we have to do is watch the fucktard get his ass kicked by a professional who would prove he's not mentally challenged and your smart lawyer who knows every trick in the book."

"Okay," she agreed softly. "Let's see him get his ass handed to him."

I had to be strong for my Esme. We were so ready for this moment. Now it was finally here. The little fucker squatted down in the seat and the kids blew raspberries at him and booed. We just about cracked up with laughter.

"Oh my god, be quiet!" Anne exclaimed with humor in her tone. "Shhh!" The noises ceased at once when the judge banged the gavel.

"I love them so much at this moment," Esme whispered and put her finger to her lips to silence her sisters and brother. "We're gonna win, fair and square."

"No doubt about that, my angel."

**Thank you to reviewers teamcullenx, cuddyannie, that kiwi chick, CarlisleandEsme, k8ln713, and Just4Me!**


	25. Trial and Error

Esme's POV:

"Mr. Evenson, place your hand on the Bible."

"Oh, sorry, what?" He shifted in his seat and I saw the tent in his pants.

"Bastard's gonna get owned," Carlisle said to me under his breath. Just hearing that made me smile.

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know how this works...I do." He looked at me and smirked. I hid my face against Carlisle's chest, and he squeezed me closer to him.

"You have a documented disability. What is it?"

"Oh, um...Down's syndrome," he said in a dramatic low, odd tone and scrunched up his face. "I got a fat neck, see?"

"Yes. Usually, that trait is less obvious as the child grows older."

"I guess I've always been chubby, then. See my tummy?" He pulled up his shirt. His overly hairy stomach expanded over his belt buckle, almost down to his thighs. I coughed and choked up some vomit while closing my eyes.

"Mr. Evenson, please put your shirt down. Thank you. You don't look like you have Down syndrome. You're just making weird faces."

"I HAVE DOWN SYNDROME!" he hollered in a terrible accent that I had no name for, but I knew people with Down's didn't talk like that, since a boy at school had it. He hopped up and down and flailed his arms, making a complete fool out of himself. He stuck his tongue out at the judge and my lawyer. "I have difficulties with hearing, spelling, math, and I'm blind in one eye! Blecck!" The judge banged the gavel to shut him up.

"Sit down! You're embarrassing yourself! I can tell you don't have Down's, because you're one of the tallest guys in here! Also, they don't talk how you're talking. I would know; my daughter has it!"

"Oh, burn! He can't do anything about that!" Renee laughed softly and we exchanged a high five.

"Fine!" The ass kept up the childish charade and pouted. He sulked as he sat back down with his arms crossed over his chest.

'Miss Platt insists this crime did occur. The doctors also found evidence of rape on her and a few of her friends."

"They're lying!" he shouted. "I didn't rape her, or anyone else! She led me on! I thought it was consensual and she wanted it! I have Down's, it's just not apparent, okay?"

"Hey, where's the French accent?" Carmen snickered from beside us.

"It's not French, it's English," Charlotte said plainly.

"Both of you are wrong. He was just talking gibberish that he was trying to pass off as how Down's syndrome people speak," I let them know. "Now he's talking normal, but it sounds creepier than gibberish."

"How did she lead you on?"

Yeah, how did I lead him on? By walking into his door to take care of his stepdaughter who he was supposed to love and dote on? Fuck him, he was going down.

"She, uh...helped me with stuff."

"I didn't help his ass with anything," I muttered. "I helped him get a boner by just standing there."

"I know, baby," Carlisle stroked my hair gently while I tried not to cry.

"Like what?"

"Oh, you know...giving me food, inviting me and my family over for dinner, going to my pool party, letting me walk her home..."

"So she was being friendly?"

"Yes, and I mistook it as flirting. We played chase one night down the sidewalk, and she tripped. I tried helping her up, but she kicked me away. I was only trying to help her."

"He called me cute and pretty, that's why I ran away from him," I squeaked, and Carlisle was soon cradling me like a baby, with my head supported against his chest and my legs propped over his other arm. I bit my thumbnail and almost sucked it like a two year old, but I stopped myself. I hated what _he _did to me. _He_ made me act immature, younger than my twin sisters!

"Wait, you're confusing me. If you are mentally challenged, do you know the difference between friendly and flirting?"

"Oh, no."

"What is your definition of friendly behavior from a teenage girl to a forty something year old man?"

"Eh, just passing by their house, saying hello...I mean, I was a family man! Just look at me!"

"Was? Are you still a family man?"

"Well, uh...yeah, I mean, no, I'm in court...my family's over there, I'm not with them right now."

I rolled my eyes. He was so stupid. He probably didn't even know what he was talking about.

"What did you do when Esme was babysitting, before and after?"

"Before...I talked to her and opened the door for her whenever she came over. After...I walked her home but then she wanted to walk home with my wife."

"Why do you think she wanted to keep her distance? That is not friendly, nor flirty. I would say that's the exact opposite."

"My wife made her stay away from me. She wanted to be in a forbidden relationship, I could tell!"

I snorted. "You loser, if it was a forbidden relationship, I wouldn't have taken you to court." I mumbled, making my friends and my boyfriend chuckle.

"How could you tell?"

"She talked to me. She initiated every conversation we had!"

Um, wrong again! I let out an involuntary coo, almost a low hum mixed with a whimper, and some people looked at me, including my lawyer, the other lawyer, and the judge. The jury gawked at me strangely, and I wiped my eyes with Carlisle's shirt. "Shh, sweetheart..." he said lowly and stroked my cheek with his thumb.

"Name one she initiated."

"She asked me what I do for work."

"And how does Miss Platt know how old you are?"

"I told her. I wanted her to know I was too old for her. But she likes older men, apparently. She liked me tickling her in the pool and she laughed like there was no tomorrow. I couldn't resist after that, so I tried to kiss her, but my wife caught us. Your client told me 'no' only because she didn't want us to get busted."

I shrank in my boyfriend's lap. Every word _he_ was saying made me feel small and like it was my fault I got raped. He knew being tickled was my weakness! I was so sensitive to everything!

"Did she look frightened?"

"Of course. She didn't want to get fired for falling in love with me."

"Did you ever have fantasies about her?"

"Obviously. She was my secret girlfriend."

"No!" I shrieked in a whisper. I peeked out from between my fingers and saw my lawyer turn his head in my direction again. "I hate myself, I hate myself..." I wrapped my arms around Carlisle's waist and held him tight.

"Now, I'm looking over there and I see my client. Her body language is eyes down, face hidden in her boyfriend's shirt, and she's visibly shaking. Why would she be upset if she was happy with you?"

"I'm talking about our forbidden relationship and she's sad it's over."

"Everyone across from us is angry. Why are they angry?"

"Because she lied to everyone she loved."

"They appear to be glaring at you, Mr. Evenson. I saw some people giving you the finger. A few girls around Esme are crying or covering their mouths with their hands. They all look like they feel sorry for her, not mad at her. They're giving her looks of sympathy."

"Sucks for them. They didn't know she seduced me but then she decided she never wanted me in the first place."

"So she manipulated you into thinking you had a serious relationship with her?"

"Yes, sir."

"And she let you rape her?"

"It wasn't rape! She made love to me! She wanted me!"

I was bawling silently and hoping my lawyer wasn't believing his bullshit.

"Her mother made friends with you and your wife and invited you over for a double date."

"I never went to her house. I don't even know her mother's name."

"You said you walked her home earlier. Now you're saying you never went to her house. Never is an absolute. What did you mean to say?"

"And he screws himself over again," Mom chuckled.

"I never went _inside_ her house. I simply walked her to her door."

"Then how did she come to your house and have sex with you?"

"Simple. She met me at my house when my wife and daughter left."

"Why did they leave?"

"I got in a bit of a tussle with my wife. She was suspicious that I was cheating, so I threw her out of my house, and she took her daughter with her."

"You had a pool party and you invited everyone in the neighborhood, even people you don't know the names of?"

"Yes."

How typical. He lied again. I was glad my lawyer sounded so doubtful.

"So you're telling me that everyone who is watching this trial does not know your name except for Miss Platt, your wife, and your daughter?"

"Yes. I mean, no. They know my name...I don't know any of theirs."

"There was a dent in your car. What happened to it?"

"Mini accident on the freeway."

"It appears as if there was a stone thrust against it. What happened there? I will only ask you this one more time."

"Some kids were throwing rocks at cars, and one of them hit mine, so I followed them to where they lived and apparently, they were your client's little sisters. I told their mother what they'd done but she said they didn't do it. I saw your client at the top of the stairs, over her mother's shoulder. We shared a smile-"

"You just lied to me again. You said you were never inside her house. Never is an absolute."

"I was almost never inside her house. That's what I meant."

"And you met her mother. You said you don't even know her mother's name."

"I forgot it."

"He's digging himself into a deeper hole," Lily whispered to Edwin.

"Now, if you were interested in this girl, why did you not divorce your wife?"

"I kept the girl a secret."

"The police found a dozen or more human skeletons in a dark room that you have in your house. How did they get there?"

"I dunno. They were there when we moved in."

"And you expect me to believe that? You lied to me before, and you're probably lying to me again. The alleged victim looks scared out of her mind!"

"I deserve to be a victim," I wept with a squeamish feeling in the pit of my belly.

"No, sweetie, shh..." Carlisle traced my lips with his fingers and tried to make me feel better, but even he couldn't take my pain away. This would stay with me forever.

"I'm not even interested in her anymore."

"If you're not interested in my client, then why is there an obvious bulge in your pants?"

Everyone gasped.

"Okay, fine, fine! I did it, okay? But she tempted me!"

"How did she tempt you?"

"Would you look at her? She's beautiful! And she consented so it's not rape! We made love!"

"Here is a photo you took of her naked with a sheet wrapped around herself. She appears to be crying. Why would someone cry during consensual sex?" My lawyer handed a picture to my rapist and the dirty man scanned it.

"She sent me the wrong message! She thought she was being raped, I thought she liked it! As they say, the first time is always the most painful!"

"How do you know she was a virgin?"

"She was really nervous and blood came out her genitals."

"Then explain this image. This is your house after she ran from it and jumped out the window. The window is still open in this picture."

"We opened it to get fresh air. My wife was coming back so Esme had to jump out."

"Why did you lick your lips as you said her name?"

"I didn't."

"Yes, you did. Do you do that out of habit?"

"I guess."

I swallowed hard and it hurt. Snot bubbles dribbled out of my nose and even my mouth. I was turning into a mess.

"I notice you're a bit beat up. Who hit you?"

"Mrs. Swan's husband."

"Why did he hit you?"

"He was mad because he thought I showed his daughters my genitals, but I really didn't, at least, not on purpose."

"I thought you knew none of these people, other than your wife, daughter, and my client. Therefore, he would not know you well enough to want to strike you. And you would not feel the urge to show any children, near puberty or not, your privates. That's what pedophiles do."

"Hey, they chose to look!"

"Who are you talking about?"

"I wanted to give the little dudes a sex talk. They were old enough...and I pulled my pants down to show them what a real penis looks like. The girls came in at the wrong moment! I couldn't help that!"

"Explain one more thing to me and then I'll let you go. Why was Miss Platt crying like someone was shot, during her statement, while she described the so called 'making love' you two did?" my lawyer demanded.

"Maybe she didn't like it?"

So he admits it!

"Since the police found handprint marks all over your victims, they assumed it was a person who did it to them, not a car accident. You are in jeopardy of being found guilty and you are already charged with perjury. Once again, ladies and gentleman of the jury, we suspect that Mr. Charles Evenson not only raped Miss Esme Platt, but he also hurt his wife, daughter, Miss Platt's mother, and Mrs. Swan's baby, and walked around with his genitals viewable to children under the age of ten, and showed all the guys he met in that neighborhood the porn pictures of my client."

I let out a happy sigh. My lawyer figured it out.

"I can't say any more. I, too, think Mr. Evenson lied, given by all the proof that Miss Platt and her witnesses presented," the other lawyer said to my surprise. We were going to win this for sure!

"What the hell? This is preposterous!" Charles yelled when his expert witness showed up.

"No it isn't. You aren't mentally handicapped."

"At least let me take a shit!" he bellowed, making the babies cry. He ran out of the room, but then he stopped where I was curled up against Carlisle. "YOU! You ruined my trial!" he growled. I jumped and gave out a little scream. Carlisle got up quickly and I hugged my knees close to my chest and Renee put her arms around me and her chin on my head.

"Shut up, Charles, if you know what's good for you!" Carlisle commanded. He stood on the seat and punched Charles fully in the mouth.

"You little prick!" Charles drew his hand back to knock the life out of my boyfriend when a few officers had to take him away from us.

"Toothmarks in each of my knuckles," he proudly pointed out to me with a grin.

"Nice battle scars. But you really didn't have to do that for me."

"I wanted to, trust me, my love," he promised, kissing me all over.

"And you've made me swoon again," I replied breathlessly while I fanned myself.

"You're such a hopeless romantic."

"Hey, so are you!" I was cut off when he kissed me passionately for a few seconds. I could have melted right then and there.

The twelve members of the jury left the room for a while and when they came back, the judge asked them, "Have you reached a verdict?"

"We have, Your Honor."

"What say you?"

"We found Mr. Charles Evenson on accounts of first degree murder, guilty, third degree sexual assault, guilty, possession of pornographic materials that portray a minor, guilty, domestic violence, guilty, child molestation, guilty, kidnapping with force, guilty, he has violated Penal Code Sections 261-269, Code Section 9A.46.110 by stalking the victim and peering through her window as she got ready for bed, and he has had a psych evaluation. He is criminally insane because of the horrible childhood he had, but since there is murder and rape involved with this, he will not be given a mental institution sentence. He gets the death penalty."

The courtroom exploded into cheers and applause. I was spun around by everyone who could pick me up, and I twirled around the kids. We danced to no music, but the moment was perfect.

"Justice for my baby girl!" my mom shouted and took my face in both of her hands. She kissed the top of my head and my squealing twin sisters kissed each side of my face, on my cheeks. Edward jumped in my arms and I scooped him up easily.

"It's all over, Eddie. No more monsters anyplace, not even under your bed!" I messed up his hair and put him down so Carmen, Renee, Charlotte, Siobhan, Sarah, and Sue could form a group hug, with me in the middle.

Lily came up to my mom and they jumped up and down, holding each other's hands. "He's finally gone! YES!" Lily screamed in excitement.

"No more monsters?" Alice asked.

The children shook their heads at her, and they all hollered, "Yaaaaay!"

"Ha! I was right. See, I_ told_ you! That house _was _haunted!" Jasper boasted and stuck out his tongue at his sister playfully. Kate laughed and gave him a noogie.

"You little bugger, I'll get you!"

They chased each other around the courtroom and for the first time in a long time, my heart was lifted with joy, ever since Carlisle first told me he loved me. I would never see that horrible man again.

"What do you say about a celebration?" Renee asked, swinging a squealing Bella up in her arms and raising her high in the air.

"Yeah, like with cake and ice cream!" Emmett added.

"That sounds yummy, Emmett. I'm so glad we can play together now that _that's_ gone!" Rosalie stated after hugging Emmett around his middle. She looked up at him and batted her eyes. He hugged her back and rocked her from side to side. They were so adorable together.

"She's a heartbreaker, and when she's older, she'll look just like her mother," Edwin commented, and spun Lily around to face him. He lifted up her chin so her face could meet his. A collected "EEEEWWWW!" filled the room as they had their first kiss and Lily blushed light pink. I just had to giggle.

"Hey, I have an idea! Let's visit Daddy's grave!" Rosalie said abruptly.

"Oh, Rosie, you're so sweet to think of that," Lily said. Her eyes filled with tears. "He would be so happy I found someone special."

"I know! We can tell him why we haven't been there in so long, Mommy! We can tell him everything!"

"I'm pretty sure he was watching over us this whole time," Lily picked up her daughter and Rosalie was sandwiched in between Edwin and Lily.

Alice and Jasper were skipping all around the courtroom, holding hands, and they were still holding hands when we got into our cars and followed the Cullens to Lily's husband's gravestone. Jasper went with the Swans, naturally, and I replaced his seat next to Carlisle.

I was so overwhelmed with emotions that I didn't know how to feel. I was overjoyed _he_ was gone, but I was scared that criminal would get away and hurt someone else in another state or country. I cried happy tears into Carlisle's shirt and he rubbed soothing circles on my back. "You're safe now, honey," he murmured with his lips in my hair.

"I know...but what if he breaks out of jail?"

"Since everyone knows about his criminal records, he'll be in hiding instead of killing people, if he does bomb the prison."

"As long as he doesn't enter humanity at all or go near anyone. I can't stand to think of another girl getting hurt, especially a little one, younger than myself."

"Me neither. But if he doesn't want to go through an embarrassing trial again like he did today, he wouldn't dare do that. We put him in his place," Carlisle said and made me giggle.

Our past was behind us now, and I needed to go to therapy still. All we had to face was our future.

**Thank you to reviewers k8ln713, CarlisleandEsme, that kiwi chick, Just4Me, and livi harkness!**


	26. Welcome to the Family

Carlisle POV:

Lily had Dad stop at a flower shop and he gave her money to buy flowers for the gravestone.

When we got to the military cemetery, everyone crowded around the gray headstone sticking out of the grass. The words read, _William Aiden Hale, May 30th, 1976-September 6th, 2007 Loving father and husband to Rosalie and Lily Hale, died for our country fighting in Iraq. He will be missed dearly._

We watched Lily bend down on her knees and pull her daughter down with her. She wiped her palm across her eyes and sniffled before talking. Her hair blew softly around her face in the wind as she spoke and set flowers down by the gravestone.

"Hi, Will. It's me and Rosie again. We apologize we haven't been back in so long. I love you tremendously. You were my life, and I haven't been the same since you died. I was so wrong about-I can't say his name. I hate him so much...I wish I never met him. I wish you survived the war. Then I wouldn't cry," She blew a kiss to the letters of his name and let Rosalie go next. A gust of wind came up below the earth as Dad helped her up to her feet and held her close.

"Hi Daddy. I miss you and Mommy does too! I'm glad you're having fun in heaven. I wonder what it's like. I bet you're still allowed to play the guitar like you used to when I was a toddler. You were so good at it. I hope you're not mad that Mommy kissed another guy today. He's better than my old stepdaddy. This guy that Mommy kissed today never hurts her and he treats her really special. He's got kids too, which means I get people to play with every day without even going outside! I wish you could come back to life, but I guess I'll see you when I go away from this earth. But wars are stupid! Why did you need to fight, Daddy? Why?" She was crying, and I felt for the poor girl. Esme and I sat down with her and held her in our laps. "But Esme and Carlisle make me feel a lot better! So does everyone else! I just miss your hugs..." she trailed off and I kissed her forehead while Esme kissed her cheek. "Well, bye, Daddy! See you next week!"

We said our condolences, called it a day, and then left.

Dad stopped the car beside the old house where the Hales lived. Lily got out and Rose followed her. Lily went to unlock the door, but she turned around and came back.

"I don't want to live there anymore. Besides, I don't have a car. The house brings back too many horrible memories."

"That's fine. You two can stay with us. I'll call a demolition company so they can tear it down. Kids, go help them get their stuff," Dad suggested.

I took Esme by the hand as we went inside. She didn't want to go in, though.

"No...don't make me go back there, please!" she begged.

"You can come to my room and help me get my things, Esme! Don't worry, we won't go in his room or the forbidden one," Rosalie reassured her.

"I-I guess..."

"Just close your eyes, I'll lead you upstairs and we'll follow Rosalie and Lily. Don't worry, baby, I'll protect you," I comforted her. She held me around the waist and walked with me as I covered her eyes with my hand. Each step I took made the stairs creak. I wondered how old this house was.

"Here's a bag to collect our things," Lily announced as she came out of a bedroom with a brown Safeway bag. "And a suitcase from when we moved in."

"When did you move in?" I asked.

"Two years ago...this is his suitcase. You can tell by all the naked women on the front of it." Lily threw it out of an open window. Esme refused to enter the room because that's where she was raped. I looked around and saw the damage. There was dried blood and semen on the bedsheets and when Esme smelled it, she started crying.

"Shh, sweetheart, you're safe with me," I soothed her.

"You two can go help Rosalie pack up. Here's her pink suitcase." Lily handed me the small suitcase and started filling her suitcase with clothes and the rest of her belongings.

We went to Rosalie's room and saw her gathering her dolls in one huge pile and her clothes in another. "Who's gonna take my Barbie bed to your house, Carlisle?" she wondered aloud.

Oh, right, I forgot about that. "Maybe all of us guys can carry it over."

"Wow, you guys can do that? It's not that heavy, so then again, you probably can."

Esme giggled through her tears. "I would love to see you picking up something big, Carlisle. And yes, that was a flirtatious comment."

Hours later, the house was bare and free of Lily and Rosalie's things. They were inside our house while me, my dad, Charlie, Eric, Eleazar, Peter, Liam, and even the little boys and all the women and girls took Rosalie's bed and put it upstairs in Kate's spacious bedroom. Their beds were now joined together.

Everyone in the neighborhood applauded when the house was destroyed and the corpses were burned so the smell would disappear forever.

"He's gone. The house is gone. But I still look like a freak!" Esme groaned while turning her face away from the mirror in her room. I laid on her bed and sighed.

"No, you don't, baby doll. Come here."

She got up on her bed and laid down next to me. I held her and kissed the top of her head. "I'm beat up."

"Esme...you're beautiful. He didn't change that. Those injuries will go away soon. You'll go to therapy and you'll get better. You can still lead a normal life. We'll get married after college and have pretty babies. If anything, this experience made us both realize how precious life is and how strong family bonds are. It also taught us what horrible things can happen."

"You're right. It also made us cautious. My parents are always checking the locks and seeing if windows are open mysteriously. My little sisters and brothers aren't allowed to leave their sight. I'm only up here because I'm with you. They won't let me be alone, but I'm happy for that. So many things can happen when you're alone." She shuddered against me and I rubbed soothing circles on her back. "Also, my curfew is now before dark. I have to be with someone if I'm out after five."

"Can you still babysit, though?"

"We babysitters made a rule for ourselves. We have to go in pairs if we want to babysit someone who's not one of our little sisters or brothers. Now that Rosalie's living with you, I can babysit her if at least Kate's there or you're home. This adventure has just made all of us paranoid. When we have a baby, we must always be with them or have someone trusted be with them. If we have a daughter and she becomes a babysitter, please remind me not to let her babysit if we don't know the parents and no one else knows the parents. And if our daughter is acting strange, we should interrogate her with questions. This has made me so overprotective it's not even funny."

"Same here. She's not dating until she's thirty," I joked.

"It's not the dating I'm worried about. I need to know what the guy is like, though. Anyone out there can hurt an innocent human being, and I can't imagine it being our future child."

"They won't be able to under our supervision. We will be on her like a piranha when she goes out. We'll explain what happened to you and she'll be too scared to rebel against us."

Esme snuggled up against me. "That's right. By the way, I'm going to take my driver's test tomorrow. I'm so excited to drive. I would love a red convertible."

"I want a black Mercedes. I can't wait for us to be drivers together. I want to take you out to a real date at a restaurant and not have to go on the dirty bus."

"I would like that." Esme smiled up at me and we shared a long kiss.

When I went home, I saw my dad dressing up and shaving in the bathroom. Lily was in our guestroom with soft music playing.

"Here, Lily, wear this dress!" Kate was saying.

"Oh, that's too low-cut..."

"You'll look so pretty!"

"Yeah, Mommy, wear it! Pleeeease?"

"Dad, are you taking Lily out?"

"Yes, I sure am, son. Check this out." He pulled out a black box out of his black suit pocket and opened it to reveal a diamond ring. My eyes went wide.

"Whoa, that's a huge rock! You're proposing to her tonight?" I whispered.

"Yeah, I want the wedding to be a week after yours and Esme's party. We need a month to prepare this thing. You're in charge of the kids tonight."

"Got it. She'll love it," I praised him.

The guestroom door opened. Lily came out in a knee-length red dress. Her blonde hair was curled, she was wearing earrings, and makeup covered every part of her face. Her bruises were barely noticeable. Dad smiled when he saw her and pulled her in for a hug.

"You look so handsome," she complimented him. "I haven't smelled cologne since Will."

"And you look just like Elizabeth in that. So lovely, sweetheart." Their lips joined and a camera clicked from behind them. Kate hid the camera behind her back and grinned up at them mischeviously.

"You guys are so cute together!" she gushed.

Lily blushed and Dad beamed. "Thank you," they said in unison.

"Alright, it's time to go. Kids, give me a hug, and be good." He wrapped us up in a hug and kissed us on the foreheads. I still felt funny about being kissed by my dad, but it was okay.

"Come here, girlie," Lily scooped Rosalie up in her arms. "You be a perfect girl for Carlisle, okay?"

"Yes, Mommy," Rosalie promised, rolling her eyes. "Have fun with Edwin!"

"Thank you. See you later!"

"Bye!"

They waved at us and we waved back.

As soon as they left, Kate went downstairs and watched television. Rosalie and Jasper were talking in the girls' room.

"My daddy's gonna ask your mommy to marry him."

"Really? It's about time! My mommy hasn't been this happy in so long!"

"I know! I miss my mommy, but Lily's really nice."

"Yeah, I miss my daddy too, but I love Edwin as much as him. Does he read bedtime stories?"

"If you ask him to...but he might be too tired tonight. You can ask Carlisle, he makes up good stories!"

"Hmmm...like ghost stories? Those are my favorties!"

"Well, I got a bunch of good ones up my sleeve," I interrupted them, and they cheered. "Come on, guys, let's eat dinner. I can make pasta!"

The kids followed me downstairs and they joined Kate in the living room while I started dinner. Eight minutes later, it was ready. I heard the kids laughing and thinking they were watching a comedy, I came in and asked them what they were watching until I saw a court room.

"They keep replaying his stupid trial. He sounds dumber every time!" Kate said between giggles. She imitated him. "Maybe she didn't like it? Of course she didn't like it, you idiot!"

"Wow, and they're even showing him get forced into the jail cell. They've got him locked in handcuffs. His death date is in a week. They should just shoot him..." I trailed off and the kids nodded in agreement.

"Hey, look, there's us!" Jasper said excitedly as the camera panned over the audience. I saw myself holding Esme and it zoomed in on her face every time the word 'victim' was said. I knew she didn't want all this attention, but it wasn't like we could sue them for doing that.

"Yeah, and me and Mommy!" Rosalie pointed out when they showed the witnesses onscreen. When I heard my voice onscreen, I walked out. I felt uncomfortable with being on television because my voice was weird when it was recorded.

"Alright, guys, come get your pasta!" I instructed them.

We ended up having to eat in front of the television since they were so interested in the news. I was as well, but I couldn't stand seeing Esme cry over and over again. My heart broke when she was sad.

The kids burst out laughing when Charles picked his nose. I didn't even catch that, but whatever we didn't see, it was all on the news. I put the dishes away after dinner and after they got their pajamas on, we all watched a movie together. Rosalie fell asleep on my chest and I put my arm around her. She was like a baby sister I never had, even younger than Kate. Jasper was falling asleep on Kate's lap and she stroked his curls. I carried Rosalie upstairs and put her in her bed. Her eyes opened as soon as I got her tucked in.

"Can you read me a bedtime story and make it up, please?"

"Of course, darling." I brushed her messy hair back from her forehead and kissed it.

"I've always wanted a big brother, you know. Or at least a big sister. I'm glad I have both."

"Me too," I said and sat on the side of her bed. "Alright, ready to hear the ghost story?"

"Yes!" She clapped her little hands in anticipation.

"It was a dark and stormy night. Thunder boomed and lightning flashed. Princess Rosalie and her husband Emmett were living in an old house that was presumed to be haunted. The princess had a secret, though. She was a vampire, but a good vampire, and so was her lover. Mysterious deaths started appearing in the paper and the victims were cruel monsters who were last seen with a girl who had been violently hurt in the streets of New York. Police assumed the monsters killed her and her body was never found. The princess took revenge on her attackers, and the ghosts of her victims were the ones who haunted the house. BOO!" I started tickling her and she insisted she wasn't scared. "Now, go to sleep, okay?"

"Okay. Good night."

"Good night." I patted her forehead and left the room. I made sure to leave her Cinderella night light on. Kate carried Jasper to his bedroom and then went back into her own bedroom. I got into bed but stayed awake in case anyone got up. Kate was texting on her phone but the other two were sleeping. I called Esme to see how she was doing.

"Hello?" she answered huskily.

"Hey, Esme, what's wrong?"

"My parents have been watching the news all night. I didn't want to look because I knew who would be on there. So, I tired myself out by chasing the girls and Edward around the house. It was fun, but I'm glad to now talk to you. What's up?"

"I babysat my little brother and sister, plus Rosalie. Lily and my dad went out on a date tonight and he proposed to her. The wedding's apparently next month."

"Oh my god! That's so cool! They really deserve that!"

"I know. I love happy endings."

"Me too. So you put the kids to sleep?"

"Yeah, but Kate's still up texting. She's old enough to babysit herself. Jasper and Rosalie are conked out. We watched a movie and the next thing I knew, Rosalie was laying on my chest with her eyes closed. God, she's cute like Jasper..."

"I know. She's so adorable. I'm glad you're getting a baby sister. So, when are Lily and your dad coming home?"

"In a few minutes. I have to know if she said yes!"

"You sound like a girl," Esme giggled. "I bet she did."

The door opened and I ran out of my room. "Dad's carrying Lily up the stairs in his arms like bridal style..."

"Ooh, how romantic," Esme cooed. "But I bet you have to go congratulate them."

"You're right, I do. Sleep tight, honey, I love you."

"I love you too, mister!"

I hung up the phone. "Guys, how was your date?"

"She said yes!" Dad said at the same time Lily showed me her shining stone on her ring finger.

"We're marrying on July fifteenth!" she said giddily. "Was my princess an angel with you, Carlisle?"

"Yes."

"That's great! Hold on, I have to pay you..."

"No, don't worry about it, Lily. You're gonna be my stepmother soon so it'll be like babysitting my sister."

"Alright, fine, but I'm still paying Esme when she comes over to babysit Rosie. Your dad wouldn't let me pay for any of the bill. He's such a gentleman, I swear to God!" She leaned close to my ear. "And I talked him into only going to church on Sunday mornings when it's a special holiday, and he agreed cuz family is more important and we're good enough so we don't need it that much."

I threw my arms around her. "Thanks, Lily! You're the coolest stepmom ever!"

"I love you kids as much as I love my Rosie," She kissed me on the forehead and went into Jasper's room to kiss him goodnight. Then, she went into the girls' room and sat with them for a while.

"Well, that was fun...she's changed me a little..." Dad murmured and leaned against a wall. "We're still not gonna sleep together until our honeymoon, but we don't have to see the Umbridges again. I told Lily about them and she said they sounded like stuck-up brats. Sorry for not listening to you."

I folded my arms across my chest. "So you listen to your future wife? I think you've had many arguments with Mom about this before."

"She never said the Umbridges were stuck-up brats. She was rather quiet, like me."

"But the arguments..."

"Were about how I wanted to be nice to everyone and she wanted to stay away from them. She never told me the reason why. Lily actually told me why. I love both women the same, but I could never love Elizabeth the way I now love Lily. She told me that she loved me in a different way she loved Will. Sometimes, we thought we had our soul mates when they were living, but when they died and we were able to find other people, maybe they weren't our soul mates after all. Lily and I are it for each other."

"I'm so happy for you, Dad." I hugged him after his speech. "I love you."

"I love you too, son."

**Wow! Thank you to reviewers cuddyannie, TeamCarlisleandEsme8, 13, CarlisleandEsme, Liv, k8lin713, that kiwi chick, and Just4Me! Only five chapters to go...**


	27. Back to Normal

Esme POV:

_"Hello, again, my precious..."_

_My heart was beating faster while my body was drenched in sweat. I broke into a run as soon as I heard his voice. My feet were traveling slowly across the earth and no matter how much I tried to get away, he was still hot on my heels. I was getting so tired that I almost fell down._

_"They released me for good behavior..."_

_"No! Please, stay away from me, Charles! Leave me alone!" I cried breathlessly._

_"But I'm here to stay...face it, Esme, it's just us two alone together. No one else in this world is living..."_

_My family and friends' faces flashed before my eyes and all of them said in a low monotone voice, "Goodbye, Esme, go out with Charles, we don't need you..."_

_"No one cares about you but me, my pet. You belong with me."_

_"I love you, my dear Heidi," I heard Carlisle say in an echoing soft voice and then they kissed for what seemed like forever. He stroked her stomach and kissed it. "Hi, baby..."_

_NO! CARLISLE!" I shrieked._

_"I'm pregnant with his baby...I'm now Mrs. Heidi Cullen..."_

_"No use going out with a slut like you..."_

_"You let my daughter get molested...you bitch!" Renee growled._

_"Your daughter?" Lily asked. "You mean she wasn't watching my daughter! You are a danger to us, Esme!"_

_"WE HATE YOU, YOU MEANIE-MO!" the kids shouted and threw rotten potatoes at my head._

_"No, stop, guys, please! You love me!"_

_"You're such a tramp...you let him hit me so you could have sex with him..." Mom chastised me._

_"YOU DESERVED TO GET RAPED, YOU LITTLE WHORE!" everyone bellowed in my face._

_"You see, Esme? Everyone hates both of us, so we should be together." Charles pulled me into his arms and kissed me against the wall as the images swirled around us and blended together. I screamed so loud that my voice was hoarse._

I sat up in bed and pressed my hands against my heart. "Oh, God...just a nightmare..." I gasped and panted. I broke into sobs and crawled out of my bed. I tiptoed to the girls' room and decided to sleep with them for the night. That nightmare told me that I was feeling so alone.

I woke up the next morning and my face was streaked with tears. Today, I was going to therapy. My meeting was soon, so I got up, hugged my little sisters and kissed them, and told them good morning. I ran down the stairs.

"Mom!" I startled her because she jumped while making pancakes. "I thought you and Eric would be watching the news."

"They're showing other stories now. Eric's watching football while I make breakfast and our coffees. Oh!" she said, surprised when I hugged her tight around her middle. "Good morning, baby."

"Mama...I thought you hated me..."

"No, no, why would I hate you, sweetheart?"

"I had a bad dream. Everyone blamed me for the rape and they said I deserved it! You all called me a whore! And worst of all, he and I were the last two people left on earth!"

"Oh, that was just a nightmare. Don't worry, honey, he's locked up and on death row. Therapy will help you a lot, you know." She handed me a plate of stacked chocolate chip banana blueberry strawberry pancakes drizzled with syrup and whipped cream. "Eat up before it gets cold."

I poured my orange juice and sipped some of it before eating. "Thanks. So it'll help me heal?"

"Yes."

"Do you need it?"

"I'll be going to share my story, and so will Lily. Rosalie won't go since it's only for girls and women thirteen to forty-five who have dealt with trauma."

"Yeah, she's probably too young to remember anything specific. Besides, I don't want her to relive it. She's already said enough in court."

"I know, but she was so good at it. So were you. All of you girls were so brave. I wish I went up there, but you didn't call me to the witness stand. I guess it was because I thought he was nice all along up until it was too late."

"I'm sorry, Mom."

"It's fine, sweetie. I understand why I wasn't up there."

We gobbled up our breakfast and then the kids came downstairs. I sat on the floor and embraced them in my arms. They showered me with kisses and I laughed. My mom took pictures. "I love my babies so much," she gushed at us.

"Aww, we love you too, Mommy!" Edward said, jumping in her arms and kissing her cheek. My sisters took each of my hands and made me skip around the house with them. I blew raspberries on both of their stomachs and they giggled.

"Hey, come on, girls, let's get whipped cream squirted in your mouths!" I cheered and they followed me. I took out a can of whipped cream and pressed the nozzle, aiming for their mouths.

"Hey, what about me?" Edward complained.

"Don't worry, buddy..." I shook the can again and fed him some. "Yummy, huh?"

"Yeah!" the kids screamed with glee and jumped up and down.

"They're such a wild bunch," I chuckled and tousled their hair. "I'm gonna get dressed."

I went upstairs and my mom followed me. She sat in a chair while I picked out shorts and a blue blouse. "Beautiful, darling," my mom complimented me as I spun around in my mirror. "Black eye and all."

"You're supposed to say that, you're my mom."

"If you weren't pretty, do you think Carlisle would have gone out with you? He has a good eye, if I may say so myself."

"He just pities me."

"No, don't say that, princess baby. You're sweet and pretty and he loves you for your looks and your personality. Everyone loves you. Now, let's go to therapy." She kissed the top of my head and led me down the stairs. "Come on, stop talking bad about yourself."

"Okay, fine, I will, since it would make you happy if I shut up," I mumbled. "By the way, Lily and Edwin are getting married a week after mine and Carlisle's joint party."

"Wow, that's wonderful! I'm so happy for them."

"Me too! I love weddings!"

"So do I!"

She drove me to our therapy place, called the Women's Sexual Assault Center in Seattle. We met up with Lily and greeted her with hugs. Mom and I gawked at her glittery diamond ring. It was so beautiful and she had a type of fiancee's glow about her. The dark cloud that had hung over her for so long was finally gone.

"Hey Lily, I never remembered to ask you…what did you do with your other ring?"

"I kept Will's ring and mine in a tiny jewelry box. When I heard _he_ made a pass at you, I threw that ring in the trashcan. Since Jasper mentioned that he wanted Alice to have my ring from my marriage with Will, I've decided that your future husband can have Will's ring, since Carlisle said…wait, I can't tell you what he said, since he made me keep it a secret!"

"Aww, well, still, that's so sweet, Lily. Carlisle wants to marry me, so he would get Will's ring. Do you think he'll give me Elizabeth's ring?"

"Maybe, but I'll keep you guessing," she teased me with a wink. I laughed and the three of us walked into the large white room. There were about ten other girls there around my age. One of the women was my mom and Lily's age. Her name was Jenny, and she was friends with the leader of the group.

"My name is Kim and today, we'll be discussing what happened to us and say our names and ages," the leader announced. "Jenny, why don't you go first and then we'll go with the two other women your age here."

"I'm Jenny, I'm thirty-eight, and I was raped by my ex boyfriend, but now, I have a loving husband and I'm very happy with him. I was able to move on since I've been in this program for ten years. I help other girls with the same issues I used to have."

We went around in a circle, and it was my mom's turn. "I'm Anne and I'm thirty-five. My story is similar to my daughter's and my friend's. We were all attacked by the same man, but we don't want to say his name. He punched me in the face, knocked me out cold, and kidnapped my little girl."

"My ex husband was the same man Anne is talking about. He raped me and beat me within an inch of my life. He molested my daughter and her babysitter, Anne's daughter. He is now in jail, and I'm engaged to a very nice man. I'm Lily and I'm thirty-five, by the way."

"I'm Ella, and I'm twenty. These are my friends, Emmy, age twenty-one, Nicole, also twenty-one, Michelle, Katie, same age as me, Lindsay, Kristina, Ashley, all eighteen, Gina, age sixteen, and Vanessa, age thirteen," The girl with brown hair and glasses gestured to each of them as she said their names. "We were in the Special Olympics Northern California Summer Games and we witnessed a terrible mass murder. The guy was Jenny's boyfriend. She couldn't believe she trusted him for one second until he struck. We fled the dance floor before he could touch us, but it was very scary. He made sexual comments at us and tried to rape us, but the coach saved us every time. He was so creepy and we didn't believe for one second he was mentally challenged. We can't even say his name."

"He raped me. I know who you're talking about, girls. He violently raped me and I cut myself. How long have you been going to these meetings? I'm Esme and I'm fifteen," I introduced myself.

"Since that incident, four years ago." one of the girls, Katie, said. "We're over it, we had our friends buried here when we moved, and we help new members, such as yourselves. You're not alone."

"My boyfriend helps me out a lot, but I still have nightmares," I confessed.

"We used to have lots of nightmares about being raped." another girl said. Michelle, was it?

"We didn't know what was going on until Mom told us," Emmy said and smiled at the leader. The older woman smiled back at her daughter.

"Are you still in the Special Olympics?" Mom asked.

"Yeah, but we stick with each other and our boyfriends," Nicole answered her.

"They protect us," Lindsay said with a grin.

"We go back to the graveyard every day, though. At the dance, he killed our friends...as annoying as they were, they were still our friends...Tamaar, Nathalye, Rebecca, Sophia, Mickey, Jody, Brianna, Gaby, Veronica..." Kristina trailed off with a sniffle.

"Don't cry, Krissie, it's over now...we have their memories, at least," Vanessa consoled her, patting her arm. "Yeah, she gets emotional. So do the rest of us...we just had no idea! I'm so sorry he got you, Esme."

"Oh, and he killed Alicia too, she was so little!" Ashley cried.

"He broke into the girls' bathroom!" Gina added.

"He told me he was going to the bathroom, that jerk!" Jenny yelled. "I'm so sorry, girls!"

"It's okay," they murmured altogether.

"What they are experiencing is survivor guilt," Kim explained. "Have you three young ladies had anyone you knew die at the hands of this serial killer?" We shook our heads.

At the end of the meeting, we hugged the girls. I felt a little stronger at the end and I was happy once I was stepping on the gas pedal and coasting all the way home.

"That's it, sweetie, go slowly..." my mom guided me. "Brake!"

I braked and managed not to hit anything.

"Pretty soon, you'll be driving like a pro!"

I beamed at Mom. The wheel felt so good in my hands and I sat up straighter in my seat. The written test was pretty intense, but I was sure I passed it. I was a little nervous to ride with a strange driver, but my mom made sure it was a woman her age.

"I'm Esme, your student driver," I introduced myself and shook the African-American woman's hand.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you, Esme, my name is Ms. Baker, but please call me Hailey."

I drove around the cones and pretty soon, I was on the freeway. My heart was beating hard, but I concentrated on the road. I checked my rearview mirrors and made sure I wouldn't hit anything.

"You can go faster, you know," Hailey suggested for me.

"Okay," I agreed and stepped on the gas a little harder. I was zooming down the street but then I came to a gentle stop when I turned back to the place I began. Mom was leaning against her car with a proud smile on her face. I waved at her, got out of the car, and ran up to her. We hugged and the woman grinned at us.

"I'm thinking she passed?" Mom asked.

The woman nodded. "She did so well, though she seemed shy."

"She's been through a lot. She's such a sweet girl..."

I ran upstairs once I got home from my long day. I pulled out my phone and quickly dialed my boyfriend's number. "Carlisle, guess what, guess what?" I screamed.

"Babe, you didn't even let me say hi," he chuckled. "What is your wonderful news?"

"How do you know it's wonderful?"

"You sound very excited."

"I passed my driver's test! I am now a licensed driver!"

"Yes! You're picking us up for our next date!" he joked.

"Now, I didn't promise that...did you go for a test yet?"

"Not yet, I guess I will soon! How did your meeting go?"

"It was great. I met the girls who were harassed by the loser...they were so depressed over losing their friends in Special Olympics. It was supposed to be a fun event, but it turned into a nightmare!"

"Just like we were supposed to have a fun summer, but ours almost turned like theirs. We almost lost you!"

"I know..."

"Congratulations for getting your driver's license. I knew you could do it!" Carlisle complimented me.

"Thank you! I'm still bragging that I got mine first," I teased him.

"You're so mean!" I knew he was kidding when he said that, and we both laughed.

"So, is Lily gonna get her license soon?"

"Yeah, Dad's looking into cars to buy her. She can drive, as it turns out, because she was driving Dad's car to the meeting, but he still wants to get her a car she loves. Dad has the silver van, you know, but he knows she wants her own car...a purple Toyota Camry."

"Aww, they are just too sweet together, like us!"

"And get this, she changed him into a non-religious freak! Say goodbye to the Umbridges and going to church twenty-four seven!"

"WHOOO!" I cheered. "I'm so glad for you! Thank you, Lily!"

"Thank you, Lily!" he echoed.

"She'll be a great stepmother."

"I agree. Only a month left until our birthday and their wedding...can you stand it?

"Yes, I can!"

"I love you so much, Esme."

"As I love you, Carlisle."

Within a month, Carlisle did get his license and our sets of parents got him a black Mercedes and me and red convertible. We took turns with the cars and drove to a total of twenty fast food places and two restaurants with the whole flowers, candles, and nice formal wear thing people do when they go to a fancy date like that. Naturally, Carlisle paid for the meals, no matter how much I begged him to let me pay for something, and sometimes, I got my way. The nightmares became less frequent and the more I went to the meetings, the less broken I was. I was beginning to feel like myself again. I hardly felt the need to hug my knees to my chest anymore. My sisters and brother said I was becoming more fun and I was more than proud of myself to hear that.

The month went by so fast that I found myself trying on dresses at Bloomingdales with Renee, Carmen, Charlotte, Siobhan, Sue, and Sarah. I chose a purple flowy dress that went down to my knees and the top was low-cut. I had one inch silver heels and once I spun around in the mirror, the girls wolf-whistled.

"Damn! I'd fuck you if I liked girls!" Renee said, and we all laughed. We got into a group hug and went to purchase my dress and shoes. Now for hair and makeup...my life as a sixteen year old was ready to begin.

**Thank you to reviewers Renatha, TeamCarlisleandEsme8, CarlisleandEsme, k8lin713, that kiwi chick, and livi harkness! Oh and I just posted chapter 4 of my other story Here in Your Arms so please read and review that one as well as this chapter! Thanks again!**


	28. Sweet Sixteen

Carlisle POV:

Today was the day-Esme's and my sweet sixteenth birthday party! It was July eighth, the day that we had been waiting forever for, and it was finally here! The party would be held at the Swans' house since Renee and Charlie were our best friends and they lived together. It would start at six in the evening, but before then, we would have our individual birthdays at home.

"Good morning, birthday boy!" Dad announced and woke me up. Jasper, Rosalie, and Kate jumped on my bed and covered me with hugs and kisses.

"Hey, sixteen year old!" Lily added and messed up my hair while I groaned.

"Aww, thanks, you guys!" I told them and got out of bed. This would be a great day. They even gave me breakfast in bed, so I was told to get back under the covers. It was nice sitting up in bed eating waffles. I was barely awake, but the food and orange juice woke me up some. My first present of the day was a picture of Esme and I the day we first met. It was in a silver picture frame.

"Anne and I planned that together. Esme got the same thing," Dad said and pulled me in for a hug.

"Thank you."

"And here's my gift for you," Lily told me and handed me a wrapped object. I tore open the paper and found the video game I had always wanted, Halo 3, and a card that thanked me for accepting her and Rosalie into my family.

"Cool, thanks, you guys!" I hugged my new family members and went on to the next one, from Jasper. He got me a baseball cap with twenty bucks inside and I gave him a noogie. I received a thriller movie from Kate and she suggested I watch it with my girlfriend and protect her from all the scary parts. That made me laugh and agree with her. They sang 'Happy Birthday' to me and then we got ready for the day.

Apparently, Esme was wearing a dark purple dress, so after breakfast, lunch, and opening presents from my family, I showered and put on a black tuxedo and slacks with a purple silk tie to match the color of her dress. I combed my hair and made sure nothing was wrinkled.

"Big day. You look good, Carlisle. Happy birthday."

I turned around to face my dad. He was in a suit and tie like me, and when I saw Lily standing behind him and wrap her arms around his waist, I noticed her dress matched his tie-both were light green.

"Thanks, Dad."

They both wrapped me up in a hug and later the kids joined us. Lily had curled her hair and Kate and Rosalie also had their hair in tight, blond ringlets. I assumed Lily did their hair with a curling iron, since she'd taken them shopping for their blue dresses before. I went with Jasper and my dad to get our suits fitted. It was just like the prom because all the guys wanted to match their ties with their respective girls' dresses. The only thing that wasn't like the prom was there were no corsages or boutonnières. Still, it would be very romantic since Renee and Charlie were going to decorate the house like a dance club plus put candles and flowers on the tables.

"Ready to go to Alice's house?" I asked Jasper and straightened his tie one last time.

He nodded. "Celebrating yours and Esme's birthday will be so much fun!"

"You bet, sport!"

We men were standing by the door until the women joined us. Lily and Rosalie were hand in hand and Kate looped her arm through Lily's. It was a sweet scene, so Dad took a picture of them after he took a picture of Jasper and I. We decided he would be the silent photographer for the night and to thank him, we took a picture of him sweeping Lily off her feet-literally!

"Alright, troops, let's go!" Dad announced and put his fiancée down.

We walked to the Swans' house and right away, I saw Esme knocking on the door with her family behind her. Renee let them in and we hurried so the door wouldn't have to open twice in fifty seconds.

"Carlisle! Happy birthday!" Renee said warmly and hugged me. Charlie gave me a bear hug and the Swan kids came running up to me at top speed. I scooped Bella and Alice up in both my arms while Esme had Emmett. When we set the children back down, I embraced Esme from behind and whispered in her ear, "Hello, birthday girl."

She giggled and leaned against me. "Happy birthday to you too, honey."

"I love you in that hot dress," I murmured and ran my hands over the purple silk material on her belly. I kissed her on the side of her head and twirled her around to face me. "You look beautiful, baby girl."

"Thank you. And oh my, you look so good in a tux…that's my man!" She swooned and put her hand on her heart.

"Thanks, sweetheart," I said as I pulled her in for a kiss. She moaned as I went deeper into her mouth. We didn't stop until someone coughed. We looked up to see Renee.

"My favorite couple friends…your gifts are over there," she let us know and pointed to a nearby table.

We rolled our eyes and thanked her. "Now where were we?" Esme asked me slyly.

"Right," I purred and kept my hands firmly on her waist. "You are so sexy that I can't stay away from you. You better watch it; I might turn into a vampire, bite you, and drain you of your luscious blood while ravishing you the whole time."

"Oooh, scary…how would you change into some freaky monster that only exists in scary movies and books?"

"Anything can happen…" I growled in a demonic tone, which made her burst out laughing.

"Oh, shut up, you're such an idiot…I love it when you play like that!" She pushed me away, but I grabbed her back to my side.

"You're not leaving me until we have to greet more guests. I can't stop staring into your eyes." She blushed while I stroked her cheek with my thumb. "You're so pretty, my darling…there are not enough words to describe the way you look, not just tonight, but every day of our forever."

"Oh, Carlisle…you're making my heart go pitter-pat," she murmured against my chest.

"That was my intention, miss gorgeous. Esme, you are lovely, inside and out, and I feel honored to share my birthday with you."

"Thank you. You don't know how happy I am that we're having a joint birthday celebration."

We shared another short but sweet kiss until the doorbell rang and Renee let the rest of our friends in. The girls were very color-coordinated-Renee was wearing neon pink, Sarah chose turquoise blue, Siobhan picked dark green, Charlotte was in sunny yellow, Sue decided on light orange, and Carmen selected bright, shimmery red. When I took a picture of them, Esme was at the end of the row, since they were standing side by side in the order of the colors in the rainbow. The little girls joined them in the next picture and their dresses went with the teenagers they were related to. Bree and Vera had on twin flowered light purple dresses, Alice and Bella were adorable in matching light pink dresses with white sashes and bows which tied in the back, Kate and Rosalie wore white dresses with dark blue satin sashes, Angela chose a rose colored dress, Leah and Emily were both wearing Indian style dresses with patterns of orange and red swirls, and the babies, Cynthia and Maggie, were in black dresses with green and pink bows all over them. Jasper and Edward wore a dark purple tie, Emmett and Charlie were in matching white suits and black ties, Esme's parents were dashing in royal blue, Jacob had on a blue tie to go with his sister's dress, Seth and Sam wore brown tuxes with orange ties, Peter wore a gray suit and so did Eleazar. The girls had their hair down and straight, with the exception of Esme, Lily, Rosalie, and Kate. They wore silver heels and the guys wore black dress shoes. It could have been mistaken for a ball. The party was in full swing within the first half hour. Everyone was freak dancing with their significant others and the children were jumping up and down to the beat of the music. There were so many good tunes from Katy Perry to Kesha to random artists that played all kinds of unisex dance guys and I took pictures together and we even imitated our girls, who were freak dancing in a conga line. It was hilarious watching Esme rub up against other girls. She swung her hair all around her face and she looked sexy when she danced like that. She was crazy, I missed that part of her, and I was glad it was back. She came back to me and fell into my arms, appearing dizzy and tired.

"Oh my God, Carlisle that was fun," she sighed dramatically, "but now, I'm so hot!"

"Oh, yes you are," I said as I dipped her. "I wanna fuck you tonight!" I whispered in her ear and she laughed.

"You're so naughty!" she squealed. She pulled me down so she could talk in my ear. "We can while your parents are gone on their honeymoon."

My eyes widened in shock at her desire for us to make love. "Wow, Esme…your mind is so dirty. I like it! You're such a bad girl, you need a spanking!" I patted her cute little ass and she squealed. She made sure no one was looking before she grabbed my package, which was currently straining against my pants.

"I can play that game too, mister," she teased.

"Aaaah…" I groaned.

"Shhh…" She put her finger to my lips and I pressed her against me even harder.

"Whoa, down, big boy!"

"You asked for it!" I hissed. I picked her up and backed her into the wall. I was glad everyone else was distracted with their lovers so nobody would notice our sudden burst of lust for each other. "Damn, you will be the death of me!"

"I'm sorry…"

"No need to apologize! Now, for this hot and steamy adventure we're gonna have next week after the wedding…whose house should it be at? We both have siblings that love to blab to Mommy and Daddy…"

"Oh, that's right, I almost forgot! It would be too easy if we were only children…how about this? Rosalie, Jasper, and Kate can go to the park with the Swans-and my mom, Eric, the twins, and Edward can join them!"

"Perfect idea…except that I want to take you at night on my bed…it's better if it's at my house since there's no parents there and I can get the kids out to play with their friends in no time! But then it wouldn't be fair if we never went to yours…should we go to one of our friend's houses?"

"This one," Esme breathed. "Renee will let us, and she's really good at keeping a secret. That's why she's my best girl friend."

"That is a brilliant idea, sweetheart." I kissed her long and hard. "Thank you so much."

"You're very welcome!" she smirked. "Now let's go back to the party."

The abrupt change in topics left a mess in my pants. I was imagining her naked, on top of me, moaning my name until she was breathless…but now, she was dragging me to the middle of the dance floor for a slow dance. Every girl put her arms around her guy's shoulders or waist, depending on where their head went on his chest or shoulder. Esme laid her cheek against my shoulder and I held her around her waist as we swayed softly to the soothing beat of Perfect Two by Auburn. It was peppy, just the song for the two of us. Esme sang along to the lyrics in a soft voice and it was so beautiful that I didn't notice the artist singing it.

_You can be the peanut butter to my jelly_

_You can be the butterflies I feel in my belly_

_You can be the captain_

_And I can be your first mate_

_You can be the chills that I feel on our first date_

_You can be the hero_

_And I can be your sidekick_

_You can be the tear that I cry if we ever split_

_You can be the rain from the cloud when it's stormin'_

_Or u can be the sun when it shines in the mornin'_

"Yes, baby, keep singing, please," I begged her when she took a breath.

_Don't know if I could ever be without you_

_'Cause boy you complete me_

_And in time I know that we'll both see That we're all we need_

_Cause you're the apple to my pie_

_You're the straw to my berry_

_You're the smoke to my high_

_And you're the one I wanna marry_

_Cause you're the one for me (for me)_

_And I'm the one for you (for you)_

_You take the both of us (of us)_

_And we're the perfect two_

_We're the perfect two_

_We're the perfect two_

_Baby me and you_

_We're the perfect two_

"Excellent job," I praised her, and she beamed.

_You can be the prince and I can be your princess_

_You can be the sweet tooth I can be the dentist_

_You can be the shoes and I can be the laces_

_You can be the heart that I spill on the pages_

_You can be the vodka and I can be the chaser_

_You can be the pencil and I can be the paper_

_You can be as cold as the winter weather_

_But I don't care as long as we're together_

"This song is amazing," she sighed and I kissed the top of her head before she went on.

_Don't know if I could ever be_

_Without you 'cause boy you complete me_

_And in time I know that we'll both see_

_That we're all we need_

_Cause you're the apple to my pie_

_You're the straw to my berry_

_You're the smoke to my high_

_And you're the one I wanna marry_

I decided to sing this one with her while staring into her eyes.

_Cause your the one for me (for me)_

_And I'm the one for you (for you)_

_You take the both of us (of us)_

_And we're the perfect two_

_We're the perfect two_

_We're the perfect two_

_Baby me and you_

_We're the perfect two_

"We are really sweet, huh?" she laughed, and I nodded.

_You know that I'll never doubt ya_

_And you know that I think about ya_

_And you know I can't live without ya_

_I love the way that you smile_

_And maybe in just a while_

_I can see me walk down the aisle_

_Cause you're the apple to my pie_

_You're the straw to my berry_

_You're the smoke to my high_

_And you're the one I wanna marry_

_Cause your the one for me (for me)_

_And I'm the one for you (for u)_

_U take the both of us (of us)_

_And were the perfect two_

_Were the perfect two_

_Were the perfect two_

_Baby me and you_

_We're the perfect two(yeah, yeah)_

I didn't realize people were listening until they clapped and cheered for us. I took a bow and she curtsied, making everyone laugh. It was then time for presents and cake. We got all kinds of special gifts, such as movies, books, picture frames with pictures of us with our friends in them, gift cards to our favorite stores, money, clothes, jewelry (mostly for Esme) and finally, we exchanged the presents we had for each other. She opened the heart box I gave her and gasped when she saw the silver sparkly necklace inside. I helped her put it on and we kissed. She read the card to herself and her eyes filled with tears. I had written that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her and that she was like no other girl that I'd met before. She started saying the rest of it aloud. "Dear Esme, I want to wish you a happy sixteenth birthday and I hope that your wishes come true! I am happy that I chose you to be my girlfriend and I am glad that you accepted it with all your heart and spirit! I don't know what to do without you, babe, but I want to wish you the very best and I wanted to say that I love you! Your boyfriend, Carlisle."

"Aww, you are so sweet, Carlisle, thank you!" she said, dabbing at her eyes. "Here's yours…I hope you like it!"

"I'll love it, dear," I assured her and stroked her hair. I took the present from her, removed the wrapping from the bag, and it revealed a guy's style necklace with a peace sign, similar to hers.

"It's our love jewelry!" she said cheerfully, and I hugged her tight. I sat her in my lap as I read the card out loud.

"Dear Carlisle, thank you for everything you've done for me. I don't know how many boys would love their girlfriend or best friend as much as you love me. You rock my world, honey! You are much too good for me and I feel lucky to be your baby girl. With love, Esme." My heart warmed and I squeezed her hand. "Thank you, sweetie." I kissed the top of her head and she blushed when everyone went, "Aww!"

"Oh, Esme!" Anne began.

"My little girl!" Eric actually looked scared.

Esme rolled her eyes. "Mom, Dad, don't give me that 'you're growing up so fast' speech! I'm sixteen now!" Everyone laughed when she said that. We sat down to wait for the cake and both of our sets of parents brought it out with sixteen candles on each side. It was chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, our favorite kind in the universe! After our guests sang us 'Happy Birthday, we found out that it was just as good as it looked. The fancy pink, green, purple, and blue lettering read, "Happy Birthday to the cutest couple under eighteen!" with a heart around our names at the bottom. We fed each other the cake, and the other couples copied us, even the children. It was so cute except for when we had to clean them up. All in all, it was successful birthday party and a great time had by everyone in attendance. We could hardly wait for Lily and Edwin to tie the knot and Esme and I to sleep together and become one with our bodies because we already knew we were one person-she was the heart and I was the soul-we just had to do one more thing before going back to school. Something that would change us entirely in a positive way, something that was needed by both of us, something that was worth the wait.

Birthday sex.

**Thank you so much for your reviews, k8lin713, Just4Me, that kiwi chick, CarlisleandEsme, TeamCarlisleandEsme8, cuddyannie, livi harkness, new reader K.K. Fush, and returning reader LaurenFacinelli! Fifteen reviews away from 200 and three chapters left! Keep it up, you guys are doing an awesome job! I'm gonna finish this by New Years Eve! I CAN DO THIS! Happy Christmas Eve or Merry Christmas or HAPPY HOLIDAYS!**


	29. Sweet Love

Esme POV

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Renee asked me over the phone.

I leaned on the side of my house. "Yes, I'm positive. I need to get _him_ out of me, and Carlisle can help with that. I want to be filled with Carlisle so much that _he_ will be out of my body forever."

"Alright, you're lucky that you have a cool best friend who is willing to let you two get it on at her house while she goes out with family and you guys' siblings…no way do I want to be near you two when you're…making noise."

I laughed. "Thanks, Renee, I really owe you. Is it okay if we sleep over as well? I'll just tell my mom that I'm spending the night at your house."

"Oh, that's fine too. But only sleep with him, don't have sex when I'm there, please!" she begged.

"Okay, okay, we won't! What time will you be home, eleven?"

"We'll stay out til midnight…we want you to have fun!"

"Thank you, thank you! I'm like, jumping up and down right now!"

"Esme, you're sixteen…"

"You were fourteen! Carlisle and I will be together forever!"

"Maybe I'm a little overprotective, but this is the one month anniversary of when you-"

"Don't," I cut her off. "I know…so that's why it's the perfect day to do it with him!"

"Okay, I'm sorry, have fun."

"Sometimes, you can be like my mom!" I complained and rolled my eyes. "But better you know than my mom!"

"She'd kill you. The only reason I would kill you is if you didn't clean our guest room bed sheets after you did the nasty. Are you dressed yet? It's after breakfast, and the wedding is in like five minutes!"

"Yes, I'm wearing my bridesmaid outfit…it's light pink, Lily's favorite color…and I have the red lacy see-through bra and the black thin panties we bought yesterday underneath my dress…" I trailed off, blushing just thinking about it. "Should I bring makeup?"

"You're already wearing makeup!" she reminded me. I touched my face.

"Oh yeah, sorry…I'm a little too excited!"

"That has a double meaning!"

I giggled. "You are so bad!"

"Not as bad as you…I bet you two are gonna be wild and crazy like Charlie and I!"

"Okay, spare me the details!" I squealed as my mom came outside. "Sorry, I gotta go, since my mom's gonna talk to me, bye!"

"Bye, love ya!"

"You too, sis," I murmured as I hung up. "Hey, Mom," I said innocently.

"We're gonna leave now, sweetie. You look ready to rock and roll and since the wedding is in their backyard, we can leave now. Who were you on the phone with?"

"Renee…we were talking about life," I lied.

"Why do you look so flushed?"

"It's hot! Come on, Mom, let's get the others!"

She seemed to believe me and I was so glad I wouldn't be busted.

"She doesn't suspect a thing, right?" Carlisle asked me when I got to the ceremony.

I shook my head. "I'm good at keeping secrets from my mom…at least this one's not dangerous to keep."

"I'm so excited, baby," he whispered.

I looked down at the bulge in his pants. "In more ways than one," I sniggered.

"You gettin' wet just thinking of it?" he asked huskily in my ear.

"Ohhh, thanks a lot," I moaned. "I gotta go help Lily into her dress, along with her other bridesmaids, Rosalie and Kate…see you soon!" I squeezed his butt, dramatically walked away from him, and flipped my hair back. When no one was looking, I blew him a kiss, batted my eyes flirtatiously at him, and smacked my own butt. He licked his lips and I snickered. I was getting him horny and the wedding wasn't even over yet!

"Lily, you're just having wedding jitters. Trust me, my dad's a nice guy, he doesn't bite!" Kate was telling her future stepmother.

Lily was standing in front of a mirror in her long white wedding gown that looked like it was from the Elizabethan era. She looked so beautiful, and I told her so as I straightened the back of her dress and let her train out behind her. Rosalie handed Lily her veil and she put it on.

"Thank you, my darling girls," she said and enveloped us all into a hug. "Rosie, do you have the flowers?"

"Yes, Mommy!" The little girl held up a wooden basket with pink roses and smiled up at us.

"Okay, you walk slowly down the aisle with Jasper, the ring bearer, then you, Kate, follow her and make sure she scatters the petals and throws them in the air so they land softly on the ground and not in a big clump, and then Esme, you walk with Carlisle, who is Edwin's best man, you two go down the aisle and then I go with my dad. I haven't seen my parents in years since…well, you know…"

At the mention of her parents, a woman's voice said, "Lily, sweetheart…"

We turned around to face a woman with dyed blonde hair in her mid sixties. "Grandma!" Rosalie shouted, running over to her.

"Mom!" Lily rushed to the elderly lady and gave her a tight hug. "It's been four years…"

"Yes, much too long, dear. I missed you both so much…thank you for filling me in on what happened. Thank God he's in jail!"

"We got rid of him!" Rosalie cheered. "He wouldn't let us see you and Grandpa!"

The mother-daughter-granddaughter scene was so heartfelt and emotional that I had to turn away. I got my camera out of my purse and had an idea. "Ladies, I'll take a picture…three generations."

Rosalie's grandma took off her glasses and handed them to me. "Thank you, Esme." She put her arms around Lily and her daughter put her arms around Rosalie.

After I took the picture, an older man, who I assumed was Lily's father, greeted them. "Grandpa!" Rosalie shouted with glee and jumped into his arms.

"Hey, Rosie, you're not so little anymore! Hello, Lily…you ready to go down for the third time?"

"Third time's the charm," she said with a nod. "Hi, Dad," She kissed his cheek and then she hugged her mom one last time. "See you later, Mom,"

"Bye, baby," her mom said and kissed the top of her head.

The wedding music started playing and then Rosalie left with Jasper. They were so cute, especially when Rosalie twirled around and the petals went everywhere like they were supposed to. Then it was Kate's turn to walk down. "Bridesmaid always gets the best man," Carlisle murmured in my ear when we were about to go down the aisle.

I snorted with silent laughter. "So true."

When Kate was halfway down, Carlisle and I walked down slowly, linking arms. Lily glided behind us with her dad. I smiled when she told her dad to let her go.

"Last time I let you go, I thought we lost you, honey."

"He's a good man, Dad…don't worry."

Reluctantly, he released her arm and put her hand in Edwin's. He sat back down next to Mrs. Hale and I stood on one side of Lily with Rosalie and Kate. Carlisle stood on the other side of Edwin with his brother.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the sight of God to join in holy matrimony, Edwin Cullen and Lily Hale. Edwin, do you take this woman, Lily, to be your lawfully wedded wife forever and ever to have and to hold, for richer for poorer, for sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

"I do," he said and kissed Lily's hands.

"And do you, Lily, take this man, Edwin, to be your lawfully wedded husband forever and ever to have and to hold, for richer for poorer, for sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

"I do," Lily responded with tears in her eyes.

"You may now kiss the bride."

The ceremony was wonderful and we cheered and applauded after Edwin kissed Lily. The priest said, "I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Cullen."

"Lily Cullen…that sounds so much better!" she gushed. We ran after them and waved goodbye until they got into a black limo with a 'Just Married' sign attached to the trunk. They were going to Hawaii for their honeymoon. When it completely disappeared from our sight, it was time for Carlisle and I to play…late tonight that was.

I wasn't nervous until I looked in the mirror for the first time to fix my hair. After hugging Renee and her kids goodbye for the night, I was sweating like a pig by the time Carlisle came over. We were still dressed up and I would have to ask him to unzip my dress in the back. I wanted this, but I felt scared because I would be losing my virginity-again. I just had to breathe, that was it.

"Oh, God…" I whispered, fanning myself. "I'm really gonna do this."

"Esme?" he asked and knocked on the door. "Are you okay in there?"

"Yeah, yeah…I'm fine…" I lifted up my dress and adjusted my bra. Did it have to be this…sexy? How did Renee have all the confidence and I was the complete opposite of her? "Do you have protection?"

"Yeah, I even double checked to make sure the condoms weren't torn or broken in any way. I promise you that I'll make it okay for you. Do you want to do this still? If you don't-"

"I do! Don't worry about me! I just have butterflies in my stomach…" I reassured him. "They'll go away, hopefully."

_Calm down, Esme!_ I thought to myself over and over again.

"We can take it slow if that's better for you."

"Thank you." I unlocked the door and he took me in his arms.

"How are you so calm about this?" I asked him.

"Hey, it's my first time too…I'm worried that you won't like, well you know, my cock…it's probably too small." He looked down, ashamed. We walked into the guestroom holding hands.

"And I thought my boobs were tiny! Dude, I will love you either way! I wanna see your peacock, cock, cock…"

"Okay, Katy Perry," he joked, made me laugh, and pulled me in for a breathtaking kiss. "Let's do this, honey, before we both chicken out."

"Yeah," I agreed as he took off his jacket and tie. He sat back on the bed and spread his legs for me to go into them. The first step was kissing continuously without air and getting into to the romantic mood. Our lips met over and over until we were both hotter than hell. His tongue tangled with mine created so many sounds between us. I felt myself wrapping my legs around his waist and dry humping him. This wasn't so bad, I decided. It was like sex but with our clothes on. It wasn't the real thing yet.,. this was only the beginning. The wetness seeped into my panties and I had the urge to go pee. It was the best feeling in the world. I was in pure ecstasy and doing his dick a big favor because it was becoming rock hard.

"Ohhhh, yessss, Esme, that's it…" he groaned when I wiggled myself even more on top of him.

"Ohhh, ohhhh…fuck…Carlisle…" I moaned loudly. "Unzip me, please…"

He stared straight in my eyes. "Positive?"

I nodded quickly, and he reached over my shoulders. His hand opened the back of my dress and the straps fell off my shoulders a little. My hands were shaking as I unbuttoned his shirt and saw his first few chest hairs. I sucked in a gasp when his whole chest came into view. He was so hot…this was even better than when I saw him at the pool. Times were horrible back then, too. I tried not to think about it, though, and just be in the moment. "Oh my…" I whispered, not being able to take my eyes off him.

"What is it, sweetheart?" he asked self-consciously.

"Nothing…you're just built so…good. Okay, that was a stupid word to use…you're built like a fucking god!"

"Thanks, darling, but I'm nothing compared to you. You're so beautiful. Mind if I take down your dress?"

I blinked. "It's sort of…off already, but not all the way…you can finish," I said softly. He'd never seen me fully naked before…what if I was too underdeveloped? He looked like a man; I was still growing into my young teenage body.

He gazed into my eyes the whole time as he smoothed my dress down and off my body. I let it fall in a puddle around me and went on my knees. It was my turn to blush and feel put on display.

"Just what I thought…you are so pretty, and I like your outfit, baby," he complimented me and sat me on his lap. He licked his lips. "You are sexy in lace and are those see through? Damn…I love you!"

"Thank you. Wait…let's make things even. I gotta take your pants off, boy!" I turned around to face him and unbuttoned his pants, less nervous this time. I smirked as I grabbed his straining manhood. In return, he massaged my breasts and tried to sneak a peek.

"Nuh-uh-uh!" I pushed his face away while giggling. "You have to hold on a second…" I pushed down my bra strap and revealed a nipple "Oopsies," I said in a small and innocent voice. I had to play with him; I just couldn't help myself. I covered it back up quickly, which made him growl and try to suck it. Wow, he was so…primal! Well, he was a boy…they're like that.

"Your panties are soaking…" he began hoarsely.

"All for you," I finished and traced his lips with my fingertip.

He yanked down his boxers and his penis sprang to life. It was so wonderful to look at and it was dripping with cum just for me. I moaned and licked my lips. "It's plenty big enough, honey," I wrapped my hand around him and began to pump, up, down, and all around.

"I'm-aaaah-glad you-aaaaah-think so! OH MY FUCKING GOD, ESME!" he yelled as his cum dripped through my fingers. When my arm grew tired, I ran to the bathroom, washed my hands, pulled off my panties, and swung them around my finger to tease him as I walked back into the guest bedroom. I threw them to the side of the room before his hands even touched me down there. His thumb was trying to find the spot and he pressed my pubic bone, right near my hole, but not quite _into_ it yet. I searched for my sweet spot with my own hand and finally found it. "Not there, _there_!" I guided him. His finger went inside me and I came undone right then and there in his arms. "Oh, yes…oh yes…Carlisle…keep doing that, baby…ohhhh…ohhhh…" His finger trailed from my warm, wet crotch to my butt.

"Yeah, you like that, sweetie?" he asked in a low murmur.

"Oh, yes, I just came…" I panted after my orgasm. "Fuck, Carlisle, that felt so good!"

"And Esme, you have a cute little ass as well," he muttered as he squeezed my butt cheeks together. "Hot ass!"

I became tight around his finger, which made him horny all over again. I let him unhook my bra behind my back while he whispered in awe, "See through lace…oh, fuck yessss…:" After washing his hands, he cupped my breasts in his hands and gently massaged my nipples. "Aaah, this is the life!"

"Ba-da-da-ba, I'm lovin' it," I teased him. My knees felt weak at his tender touch and I couldn't stop noticing his huge boner.

"Fuck you for being so tempting!" I giggled and blushed bright pink when he said that.

"Well, fuck _you_ for being so tasty!" I poked him after I said those words and he hungrily took my nipples, one after the other, into his mouth and sucked. It was one of the best things that could happen to me. The other awesome things had already happened.

I knew what was coming-pun intended. We'd saved this magical moment for last. We caught each other's eye and just then, my man knew what to do. He scooped me up, hoisted my legs up and around his waist, and I clung to him as he laid us both down on the guest bed. After he rolled the condom on him, I carefully got on top of him, lowered myself down on him, and his penis going into my vagina felt like pure heaven. The room was dimly lit and had a seductive mood to it. "Get him out of me, please!" I begged my true love. And because my boyfriend had so much affection for me, each of his fiery touches got rid of the vile man that was inside me before! It worked out very nicely!

I sighed with pleasure as we rocked to a comfortable rhythm, slow and steady at first, and then we got gradually faster and harder. We were exploding nonstop, gasping, screaming each other's names, the passion and lust between us was so powerful that we saw stars and could only focus on each other and not anything else in the room. When we relaxed to a much slower pace than what we started at, we were breathing hard together. I felt his heart beating quicker than a hummingbird's and I could barely catch my breath. There was no pain, okay, so maybe there was at least a little, but it went away as fast as it appeared. It was hot and romantic all rolled into one. It was my dream that had finally come true. He rolled us on our sides, ran his fingers through my hair, and caressed my cheek lovingly.

"How are you feeling, dear?"

"I swooned the whole time. That was the most amazing sex I ever had," I told him honestly. "Thank you."

"No, princess, thank _you_ for giving me your body…I'm very blessed to have it." He kissed me lightly on the head and traced my smile with his fingertip. You can rest…mind if I lick your pussy?"

"Not at all, babe," I allowed him and spread my legs as wide as they could go. He rarely used his teeth, if ever, to get access to my sweet juices. It felt so nice that I just laid there, panting. I couldn't even speak. I came right in his mouth and he swallowed every last drop. "Can I blow you now?"

"We're going all the way, aren't we? You just…enchant me," he said with a dazed look in his eyes. "Soft and warm...just like your heart."

I crawled on top of him and took him in my mouth. My tongue ran down his shaft and circled the head. I heard him moaning in delight and I knew I was doing better than great. By the time I was done, he told me breathlessly, "Esme…that was the best blow job, better than what I've ever imagined!"

"Why, thank you, sir." I gulped down his liquids. "You were mouthwatering."

"And your clit tasted like apple pie…in other words, I was on Cloud Nine down there…but being with you and you riding me like a horse made it all the better."

"I'm so happy with you, Carlisle," I sighed, leaning on top of his chest. He hugged me close to him and put the blankets over our blessed-out, sweaty, naked bodies.

"As am I. I love you, Esme.. I could stay with you like this forever."

"Me, too," I whispered quietly. "Tonight was so incredible and I enjoy being in your arms."

"I've always wanted to do this, my love…" We kissed so much we were burning with passion, until we both conked out, the side of my face on his shoulder, his head on top of mine, his lips pressed into my hair. The door opened just as we fell asleep and we knew we had perfect timing. Our parents would never know about our little…sexcapade.

**Thank you lovely reviewers k8lin713, Just4Me, that kiwi chick, CarlisleandEsme, TeamCarlisleandEsme8, cuddyannie, livi harkness, K.K. Fush, and LaurenFacinelli! Two more to go…and that's the epilogue and bonus chapter! The 200th reviewer will get a sneak peek of the second to very last chapter (or a sneak peek of the very last chapter, depending on how many I get for this next one by the 29th)…I'm trying to surpass my goal of 221 reviews, which is how many one of my stories got last year…so please help me! I've really loved all your support and *cries* it's almost over! But hey, on the bright side, you got a lemony chapter and two more sweet ones left!**

**So I'm not sure who put Summer of Change on Twific Central features but thank you! Here's where I found it: .com/tag/esmealicerose/**


	30. Facing the Truth

Carlisle POV:

Unfortunately, we could never have sex again until we moved out, since we didn't want our parents to get suspicious and they never left us alone because of what happened this summer. My parents' honeymoon was different and a one-time thing, so Esme and I took full advantage of our time together and enjoyed every bit of it. We tore out of that wedding so fast that we didn't know who caught Lily's bouquet when she threw it. Renee filled us in on everything as a thank you gift for us cleaning the bed sheets free of our mess and we owed her big time. According to her, the bouquet landed in Carmen's hands. We thanked her profusely for filling us in on the little details we missed when our minds were elsewhere and letting us use her guestroom for our personal pleasures. We even gave her some money, just because we were that nice. We didn't regret it one bit since we thought each other's bodies were amazing and tasty!

School was starting again in the fall, much to our dismay. Esme didn't want to go back, and I could understand why. She hated seeing herself on the news and could only imagine what people would say when they saw her. I heard them talking on the first day.

"Isn't that the girl who got raped?"

"Yeah, that's her…"

"Poor kid!"

It was all the students could talk about as we walked through the halls. I squeezed Esme's hand in reassurance when we passed the gossipers. She looked so ashamed and just not herself. I got fed up and blew up at a crowd of whispering girls, "For Christ sakes, just mind your own damn business!"

"Thanks," Esme blew out a huge breath. "God…can't they find something else to talk about? It happened two months ago!"

"And we fucked like animals last month, don't forget that, baby," I whispered in her ear and made her giggle. "Speaking of making love, Lily's got a bun in the oven…two, actually. She's having twins, one boy and one girl."

"Aww, what did your parents name them?"

"The girl's name is Elizabeth, after my mom, and the boy's name is Will, after Rosalie's dad…it's really clever, huh?"

"And adorable!" Esme cooed. "It's really heartwarming that they named their babies after their loved ones who passed on. So, when is she due?"

"Well, they were conceived on July 15th, so nine months later…April 15th, they're gonna make the Cullen family be up to-" I counted on my fingers "-eight members."

Esme's eyes bugged out of their sockets. "Holy shit! That's a lot of kids!"

"It'll be fun, though!"

"I know, large families are awesome," she agreed with me. "How are the sleeping arrangements gonna work?"

"Kate and Rosalie are sleeping in twin beds, side by side. The crib will go into my parents' bedroom. Jasper and I have our own rooms. When the twins get bigger, they'll have a bunk bed that'll go in Jasper's room, or they would sleep in my old room when I move out. That'll be when I'm eighteen or so."

"Nice…God, I can't wait to grow up! I want a baby of my own!"

I rubbed her belly. "I can't wait to make babies with you and get this thing to expand so much you'll fall over and I'll laugh at you."

She pushed me into the wall. "Shut the hell up! You'll help me when I'm pregnant, like the gentleman you are."

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" I smirked at her and we kissed. People were staring again because we used to be best friends and they were shocked that we'd suddenly turned into a couple. What were we, famous?

"Sweetheart, did your parents say anything about that hickey I gave you?" I asked her.

"No, I had a scarf covering it the whole time!" she laughed.

"Hey, Carlisle!" someone shrieked in my ear.

I turned around and groaned. "What, Heidi?" I saw that she had bird shit in her hair and resisted from laughing out loud.

"Why are you kissing _her_?"

"Because we're dating." I rolled my eyes and held Esme close to my side.

"But I know your soul mate, and it's me!"

"Awesome. Too bad the feeling's not mutual. I love her and I don't give two shits about you!"

"Oh, I saw her on the news," Heidi kept talking about my girl like she wasn't standing right next to me. "I always knew she was a whore!" Heidi laughed so hard that tears came out of her eyes. I looked at Esme, who was very still. "Are you pregnant now, you little tramp? You like huge cradle-robbers, don't you? I couldn't blame the guy…you totally led him on! Your sluttiness just ended up getting you in trouble!"

"Come on, honey, let's go." I took Esme's hand and started walking away from the bitch. "Are you okay?"

Esme looked behind her. "I'm more than fucking okay," she growled. "Payback's a bitch named Esme Anne Platt!" she hollered. She spun around and stomped back to Heidi, looking like a raging bull. She drew her arm back and swung her fist into Heidi's face. It was a successful blow, since Heidi was now screaming in pain that Esme broke her nose. Once she blackened both of her eyes, I had to pull her away before any more damage was caused and Esme was sent to the principal's office. She already had a crowd around her causing a lot of commotion.

"Next time, think about what you say before you speak, you pea brained religious freak!"

A chorus of "OHHH"'s spread across the hallway as we stormed to our classrooms together.

"God, I love you, Esme, you got her good!" I chuckled and gave her another passionate kiss.

"Why did you stop me?"

"Someone was gonna get the principal sooner or later…I don't want my girl in trouble for self-defense."

"Oh, thank you."

"You're welcome. Have fun in Art, sweetie," I told her and gave her a kiss goodbye.

The bell rang for our first period class so we went our separate ways. Esme had Art and I had Digital Photography. The first thing the teacher talked about was the huge thing that occurred this summer. She said, "A student from this school had a terrible thing happen to her." Then, she turned on the television and showed something even more horrifying in the news.

"Charles Evenson is wanted dead or alive and the Washington County Jail was bombed. Police suspect he ran away and destroyed the prison…" I tuned the rest of it out and could only be afraid for Esme. Damn, he got away again! I could only hope he was hiding in some remote area but not killing anyone. He was never found…for nine years straight, 'The Search for Charles Evenson' was the main story of every news article in the media.

Esme had finally faced the truth of what happened to her. The news report let out all her emotions and from now on, we were very cautious when we went out anyplace alone. That summer, everything changed.

NINE YEARS LATER…

I proposed to her one night in the middle of our junior year of college. We weren't even in a romantic setting and we were in shirts and jeans. I pulled the sparkly, expensive ring out of my pocket and slipped it on her finger while kissing her hand. She looked at it and nearly jumped for joy. "Of course I'll marry you, Carlisle!" she cheered and threw her arms around my neck. I spun her around as she giggled madly.

We were twenty-two when we got married, right out of college. It was a summer evening, lovely as ever. Eric walked his stepdaughter down the aisle and I was so excited to make Esme my wife. Her maid of honor was Renee and her bridesmaids were her twin sisters. Elizabeth was the flower girl and Will was the ring bearer. My best man was Charlie, since the maid of honor would link arms with the best man. She had all her bridesmaids and flower girls dress in purple, her favorite color. She carried purple lilacs and she looked so beautiful in her long wedding dress and flowing caramel hair. I lifted her veil and stroked her cheek with my thumb. I barely heard the priest telling us to say our vows, but we did it anyway.

"Esme, you are my love and my life. I fell for you when we were in second grade, but I couldn't confess until we were teenagers and I was sure you loved me back. Before, I thought it was a silly crush until that summer we really connected. I felt like you were my girlfriend instead of just my best friend…baby, you're mine, forever and always."

Esme sniffled and had tears in her eyes as she spoke quietly with her eyes down. She bit her lip and put her hand to her heart.

"I don't want them to see me cry," she whispered.

I lifted her face to meet mine and wiped a tear away that was falling from her eye. "Then don't look at them. Stare at me, I don't mind. You don't have to feel ashamed. Everyone here loves you anyway."

"Okay," she murmured and put her hands in mine. "Carlisle, I can't believe you picked me out of all the girls in the world. Sometimes, I think this is a dream, but then I realize that our love is true. I didn't know my feelings until we were in middle school. I trust you to protect me and hold me when times are tough. You fixed me up that summer and I will always remember that. You are the only man that I've ever loved and when you're down, I'll be there for you…when you're excited, I'll be just as cheerful. You are my best friend and lover, and I couldn't be more grateful." We kissed for so long that the room spun. It was our dream wedding. We relived the memory every time we sat on our bed, side-by-side, and flipped through our photo album from the wedding.

After I became a doctor and Esme got her teaching career, we bought a spacious, two-bedroom house in Forks that was one story high because we weren't planning on having a huge family like the ones we grew up in. We were twenty-three when we had our light brown haired, blue-eyed baby girl. She was so small that she almost fit in the palm of my hand and she was the size of Esme's forearm. We had no idea what to name her until Esme listed our mom's names: Lily, Anne, Elizabeth…then I decided she could have all three names. So she was Lilyanne Elizabeth Cullen, the most perfect little girl in existence. She was my favorite girl, after Esme, of course.

We had so many nicknames for her that it wasn't even funny: Lil, Annie, Lizzie, Beth, and of course all the usual affectionate names for small children. Our parents were very honored. We were celebrating our daughter's second birthday on February 27th and everyone was crowded in the small house. She was never put down. They all wanted to get their hands on her. Renee and Charlie were her godparents, so she called Alice, Bella, and Emmett her aunts and uncles as well as Rosalie, Jasper, Kate, Vera, Bree, Edward, Will, and Elizabeth. Dad, Lily, Anne, and Eric didn't allow her to call them 'Grandma and Grandpa' because they were in their forties. Instead, she called them 'Nana' and 'Papa'.

"Hey, sweetie, how old are you today?" Esme asked and knelt down to the floor next to our child.

Lilyanne sat up from her crawling position and held up two fingers. "I two, Mommy! Yay! I get cake!" She clapped her little hands and giggled.

"Yes!" Esme squealed. "Pretty baby, I love you so much," she cooed, holding her close to her chest. She stood up and I held both my girls in my arms.

"Smile for the camera!" Renee instructed. "Lilyanne…look at me, honey. There you go!" There was a click as soon as Lilyanne's eyes focused on the flash and she laughed since Esme tickled her belly. That always did the trick. After many pictures were taken, we got presents for Lilyanne. She stared cutely at all the gifts and had no idea what to do with them. She pawed at the wrapping and cried when she couldn't open them. Everyone helped her out and she got many things, like dolls, dresses, bows, shoes, and a toy house that I had built just for her. Esme was in my lap and our baby was sprawled out on the floor, marveling at everything she got.

"I like pwesents!"

"Yeah, what do you say, little one?" I asked, rubbing her arm.

"I love you, Mommy and Daddy!" she announced.

"And what else?" Esme urged her.

"Tank oo!"

"Aw, you're welcome, princess!" we said in unison, which made people crack up. They said, "Awww!" when we kissed Lilyanne on each cheek.

"You have the most adorable family ever!" Elizabeth gushed. "Can I hold her? I can see over the wheel when pretending to drive, so I'm not that short!"

"Barely," Will coughed.

Elizabeth glared at her brother and rolled her eyes. "Shut up."

"Of course," Esme said warmly. "Just sit on the couch so you don't drop her when she tries to wiggle out of your arms. She's very active when it's almost time for C-A-K-E."

Elizabeth nodded and picked up our baby. She bounced her on her lap and poked her just about everywhere. Their giggles filled the room. We snapped pictures of my little sister holding my daughter until it was time to bring out the chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. On top, we had written in colorful icing, 'Happy Birthday, Lilyanne Elizabeth, we love you!'

We cut it into many slices for all of our guests after singing happy birthday. She blew out the candles as best she could and we helped her with the rest. She dug into her cake and ate it with her hands before we could even feed her with a spoon. Oh well, we'd teach her how to eat properly soon enough. It was cute anyway, so naturally, people took pictures of our messy sunshine. After her party, we had the pictures developed and she slapped her little hands on the photos. She loved seeing herself and she wondered if she was looking into a mirror. There were so many things our daughter enjoyed doing. She was both a mommy's girl and a daddy's girl. She liked to help Esme with tending to her flowers in our garden and we spun her around in our arms whenever we were in a playful mood. She loved playing in the summer sun and making snow angels in our backyard in the winter. She found fun in catching snowflakes on her tongue and she thought it was interesting that she could lick icicles off our roof whenever we held her up high. She felt so free whenever she flew in her dreams and she knew she was special and loved by us. She ran around the room in her little pink party dress and jumped into our arms after dinner. She was hyper after her party and when we gave her chocolate chip and Oreo ice cream she was in heaven!

She and I kept Esme sane, but deep down inside I knew she worried every day that _he _would come back. Now that we both knew _he_ could be anywhere from the United States to some Middle Eastern country, we kept very watchful eyes on our daughter and Esme had nightmares practically every night. She tossed and turned, even when I tried to hold her. It hurt me to know that she was living with this pain deep down inside of her while trying to be happy on the outside. Our marriage and baby cheered her up some, but she never felt safe with _him _on the loose. It scared her so bad that at first, she didn't want a baby, since she was afraid Charles would steal it away from us. She wanted to wait until Charles was found and killed, but I told her there was a possibility that he could be MIA for years. One night, she was rocking back and forth with tears streaming down her face. She held Lilyanne tightly in her arms and cried "Don't leave me, darling," and then crashed down onto our bed. "Carlisle, what if he takes her when we're not looking? What if he comes to her daycare, tells the person in charge that he's her relative, and then just kidnaps her from us?"

"Oh, Esme, come here…" I walked to our bed and sat her in my lap. She was still squeezing Lilyanne like she wouldn't ever let her go.

"Mommy, don't be sad!" The little girl put her hands on my wife's face and brushed the tears off her cheeks. "I love you, no be sad. You sad, I sad!"

I tugged on one of her pigtails gently. "Mommy's having a hard time right now…a bad man hurt her when she was younger and he might still be around. She's scared, Lilyanne, and I have to protect both of you."

Our daughter looked up at me with wide eyes. "Why he do that? Mommy nice like you, Daddy!"

"Well thank you sweetheart, but some people in this world are cruel and nasty. They don't have hearts like you, your mother, and me. I don't know why some people are so horrible, but they just are…he's pretty messed up. Sick in the head," I explained.

"Like he's throwing up from his brain?"

I resisted a smile at my daughter's innocence. "Yeah, like that."

"Kids come up with the smartest things…they make us think of things from a different perspective. Dirty things _were_ coming out of his head, after all…" Esme shuddered in my arms after saying that. "Oh my God…"

"Shhh…" I tried to soothe her. "I've got a metal bat handy if he ever comes close."

"I thought they only came out on Halloween?" Lilyanne said, puzzled. We chuckled and ruffled her hair. She really knew how to lighten our moods. We loved her so much we couldn't stand it.

Lilyanne Elizabeth Cullen was our little miracle.

**Thank you very much to faithful reviewers k8lin713, Just4Me, that kiwi chick, CarlisleandEsme, TeamCarlisleandEsme8, cuddyannie, livi harkness, and K.K. Fush! I'm so excited to finish this! Any thoughts on the second to last chapter? Put them here, please! The epilogue will be published tomorrow!**


	31. Epilogue: Justice is Served

Esme POV:

I was proud to call Carlisle my husband and Lilyanne our daughter. We had the bright idea of naming her after our moms, which honored them greatly. They almost cried from happiness and hugged us tight. Our little tight knit family started two years ago and now we were getting dressed up to celebrate Rosalie's sweet sixteen. She had grown up so much. I still saw her as the chubby-cheeked little girl who I babysat nine years ago, but now she was a tall, leggy blonde who all the guys gawked at. Emmett was now a bulky eighteen year old who looked like he was in his senior year of college instead of high school. I knew that she only had feelings for Emmett and nobody else. He was her best friend, but I assumed he had a crush on her. He always held doors open for her and worshipped the ground she walked on. It stemmed from him saying that he wanted to save her from the haunted house when they were kids. That was the most adorable thing I had ever heard and it reminded me of the relationship I had with Carlisle. Emmett was also protective of Rosalie. A hoodlum, Royce, tried to get her to go out with him, but when she refused a thousand times over, he tried to corner her to a wall and force a kiss out of her, but Emmett knocked him out cold. Renee scolded him for fighting until she heard the whole story. His parents took him out for ice cream that night. Rosalie swooned and told me all about it, but she wouldn't dare tell Emmett she was effected by it. She just muttered a shy, "Thank you," and walked away quickly while blushing.

Jasper, now a lean young man who was the spitting image of my husband at age eighteen, was a charmer as well. Alice was a pixie and about as small as an eleven year old, much to her dismay. Bella was taller than her, but shorter than Emmett. Alice often got middle-child blues, but they went away by the time she got her Porsche. She was best friends with Jasper and he always took her out. We thought they were dating since they were in middle school, but they had just started. So did Edward and Bella, even though they were so young. I had fun watching the people I knew since childhood, grow up into teenagers falling in love and having high school drama.

Bella and Alice drifted apart, as most sisters do in high school. Bella became close with Angela and Edward since they were all in the science club, while Alice formed an inseparable bond with Rosalie. They had so much in common that it was scary. They both loved fashion, looking beautiful, and teasing each other. Rosalie was the only one who was allowed to make light fun of Alice being shorter than everyone in her grade without being slapped clear across the face, and Alice was given permission to call Rosalie 'Barbie' because she would always mean it in a nice way. Alice was also the only one, besides me, who knew about Rosalie's wild crush on Emmett, and we both swore not to tell a soul. They were the ones who loved my baby the most, it seemed. Edward was sometimes a brat and my pubescent twin sisters were dealing with hormones that my mom helped them out with. Emmett gave my child too many ice cream treats, Bella never talked to her that much, and Cynthia dressed her up in silly dresses. Still, I loved everyone the same, besides Carlisle and Renee, my husband and my best friend for life.

The girls and I went out to buy dresses for the occasion. Rosalie wore a long turquoise dress with white heels on her special day and she enjoyed spinning around in the mirror while we took pictures of her. It was a lot like my sweet sixteen that I shared with Carlisle because the guys' ties matched with the girls' dresses. Rosalie had just gotten her liscence, so I gave her my red convertible to share.

"Oh my god, thank you so much!" she screamed and threw her arms around my neck. We jumped up and down together and laughed happily.

"You're welcome, darling…and happy birthday!"

"Thank you," she giggled. "I can't believe everyone's chipping in to have my party at Crowne Plaza Hotel. You guys don't have to get me anything, so I'm fine with sharing my car with you!"

We paid for our things and prepared for the party the entire day. It started at six in the evening. Lilyanne came into my room with her dress on backwards.

"My dwess weird. I wanna look a princess!" she cried.

"Oh, baby…" I sighed and put down my mascara. "Let me help you."

She looked like a mini me once I got her brown hair curled into a half pony and her red dress correctly on her body. "Yay! Me pretty now like Mommy!" She jumped up and down and I just had to laugh at her adorableness. I finished my makeup in the mirror and adjusted my dress.

I was just fixing my hair when Carlisle came up behind me and put his hands around my waist.

"Hello, my beautiful wife," he murmured and kissed me softly on the cheek.

"Hey, mister handsome…you look really hot in your tux," I whispered when our daughter was out of the room.

"You are seductive in that red dress." Carlisle pushed me into the wall. "After the party, I'm gonna fuck you!"

I licked my lips slowly while I melted at his words. "I can't wait."

"I love you, Esme."

"I love you too, Carlisle."

We kissed for a few seconds until it was time to go. I picked up Lilyanne after getting her into her black pea coat like the one I was wearing, and we got into Carlisle's Mercedes. I buckled our little girl into the car seat, kissed the top of her head, and we were off. Rosalie was going to drive my convertible to her party and I was fine with that.

"Party, party, party!" Lilyanne sang and kicked her tight-covered legs. One of her Mary Janes fell off, so I put it back on her. I rested my hand on her knee since I couldn't grab Carlisle's package at the moment. When my arm got tired, I held Carlisle's hand the rest of the drive there and hummed to myself as the rain pattered on the windshield. I heard squeaking and looked behind me. Our daughter was drawing pictures on her window with her fingers. I chuckled to myself because I loved to do that as a kid. Carlisle turned on soothing music and looked at me. We smiled at each other and he rubbed my knuckles with his thumb.

"Are you ready to have some fun?" he asked when he pulled up to the hotel.

"Yeah!" I cheered. Lilyanne echoed me and whooped. Carlisle helped her out of her car seat and scooped her up. He linked arms with me and we walked into the party together.

Food and drinks were being served and there were people milling around and talking like there was no tomorrow. Carlisle kissed and hugged his parents when he saw them and I did the same. Jasper and Alice walked up to us, hand in hand, and we greeted them cheerfully. I knew the Swans were here, so I went to find Renee. I twirled Alice around in her pink dress and she laughed.

"You and Jasper are such a cute couple," I cooed and she blushed.

"Thanks. So are you and Carlisle."

I nodded and grinned at her. "Where are your mom and brother…and sister?"

"Mom's still in some private room with Dad. Emmett's driving with Rose in the convertible and he didn't bring his Jeep here. Bella's with Edward, God knows where…" She rolled her eyes. "And Cynthia, Elizabeth, and Will are playing with your little girl!" She took out a camera and got a picture of the four of them. It made my heart melt. My twin sisters joined in on their fun as well and then I saw my mom and Eric.

"Hey, Mom!" I shouted and she managed to pick me up after all these years.

"Hi, sweetheart, how are you?"

"I'm great, you?" I asked as she kissed me on the forehead.

"Just fine. I miss you being home all the time."

"It's different, huh? Edward being the oldest and all that…you having to give the sex talk to Vera and Bree…"

"Edward is rarely home. Vera and Bree want to grow up too fast. I don't know, did I baby you too much, honey? They tell me to stop treating them like children!"

I shook my head. "No, Mom, you were wonderful with me. I'm amazed…I don't know what I would do if my daughter was raped. It would be too much to handle. I can deal with broken hearts, but I would be lost if the…other thing ever happened to anyone I loved." I looked down and bit my lip. "I fail as a mom…I just want to protect my baby, but I wouldn't know what to do if _he_ came back and took her from me."

She lifted my face up to meet hers and stroked my cheek with her thumb. "It's always hard, but you have to believe in yourself. You're my daughter, a lovely young girl who has grown into a woman with a family. This experience from nine years ago has made you stronger. You're not weak. I want you to remember that, always, and please don't cry. This is a party!"

"Right. Sorry, Mom. Thanks." I sniffled and blew out a shaky breath.

"Anytime." She wrapped me up in a hug and rocked me from side to side. I buried my face into her shoulder and she ran her fingers through my hair. When I finally calmed down, I lifted my face up to see Alice and Jasper sharing a sweet kiss. I pulled out my phone and snapped a picture of them.

"Aww, mother and daughter!" Renee exclaimed suddenly and took our picture. We decided to take another crazy picture with our tongues sticking out and giving each other bunny ears.

"My mom just gave me a confidence boost. Apparently, I am raising Lilyanne the right way," I told Renee as Carlisle hugged Rosalie and Emmett.

"Of course you are. You're awesome…I wish my parents were like you and Carlisle. Instead, they threw me out because I was the 'devil's spawn' for being pregnant in high school. I know that's frowned upon, but kicking your kid out for a personal decision is like child abuse and neglect!"

"I know, girl. I'm sorry that happened."

"I'm over it. Let's wish Rose a happy birthday!"

The music started after a few minutes and everyone danced wildly to it. It was so crowded in the room that I couldn't see each individual person. The girls and I were all together and then Carlisle and I had both slow dances and freak dances. During a slow song as I rested my head on Carlisle's shoulder, Emmett kissed Rosalie, much to her surprise. I was so glad for them that a little "Awww!" came out of my lips. My heart lifted because the birthday girl just got kissed passionately on the mouth. After the dance, Rosalie came up to me and hugged me tightly.

"Congratulations, honey. You deserved that."

"Thanks, Esme. It was like nothing I've ever felt before. I had butterflies the whole time, I swear! The feeling won't go away!"

"I know. Now, go back to your man," I playfully instructed her. She did a little jump for joy and then returned to Emmett.

Later, Carlisle and the rest of the guys had to lift Rosalie up on a chair after taking a picture of her and Lily as mother and daughter. I stood at the back and watched them do it while I rooted for them. Then, I realized I hadn't seen my sweetie girl since we arrived. I searched for her through the crowd, yelling her name. In the middle of it, Alice came up to me and tapped me on the shoulder frantically. She looked so worried and helpless. My heart skipped a few beats at her facial expression.

"Ali, what's wrong?"

"He chose the wrong party to crash," she replied in a small voice.

"Yep, that's my mommy!" someone said and I turned around to face _him_ with my daughter in _his_ hands. Lilyanne was still pointing at me with a goofy smile on her face.

I was scared shitless. _He_ still looked the same, except that he had a beard down to his crotch. _His _hair was graying, almost white, and _he _had more wrinkles than ever. _His _creepy smile and lustful eyes never changed. I couldn't say a word, not even to demand that my daughter be given to me at once. When he started talking, I grabbed Alice's hand for I don't know, I guess, protection? I needed someone there for me. Hearing _his_ voice all over again gave me chills up and down my spine.

"Hello, Esme. You've aged pretty well. You're twenty-five now, right?"

I couldn't move when he lifted my hand and kissed it. "You're speechless around me. Well, that's fine. I've been in hiding all over the world. I haven't touched anyone. I only want you. I'm back, my pet. You should forgive me. It's been so long and I did find your daughter after all. She was lost and crying for her mommy. Little did I know, you two were related. She looks very much like you. The apple never falls from the tree, my dear. I can't wait til she turns fifteen." His hand released mine and all I could do was stare as he rubbed my daughter's bottom. I closed my eyes and swayed a bit. I was feeling queasy to my stomach and soon, I blacked out.

"What are you doing here?" someone cried out.

"I just wanted to see my daughter celebrate her sixteenth birthday. Care for a dance with your father?"

"Get out. You're ruining my party," the girl snapped.

"Oh, you shouldn't talk to your father that way."

I opened my eyes slightly and saw both Emmett and Carlisle punch _him_ out of Rosalie's way. He scrambled out, hopefully never to be seen again.

"She's in shock," I heard Carlisle say above me. "Girls, take her to the bathroom and splash cold water on her face. Renee, hold our baby. She might feel better once she sees that Lilyanne is alive and well."

"H-how did you know?" I asked him faintly as he lifted me up in his arms. I was still dizzy and his walking movements didn't make my condition much better.

"Alice hollered for me as loud as she could and caught you when you passed out. She kneed _him_ in the balls and rescued our little one," my husband reported.

"Oh my God…" I cried. "That was my worst nightmare coming to life!"

"I know, baby, I know." He kissed me over and over until I stopped crying.

Renee gently rocked her goddaughter as Carlisle carried me to the bathroom. All of us girls and women crowded in there, touched up their hair and makeup, and cooled me down. We heard a creak above us and everyone screamed bloody murder. The ceiling cracked slightly and Lilyanne pointed upwards. "Mommy, what that loud noise? Scary!"

Renee passed her to me and I clutched her to my heart. "Not sure, sweetie pie," I responded in a low tone.

The sound of floorboards above us rang out as pieces of the ceiling rained on the stalls. Dust flew out around the figure who then slammed into the toilet headfirst. We heard his neck break and he shouted for help while he flailed his arms madly. The lid slammed on his head, causing blood to burst and flow from his face. My eyes flickered all around the room and I gasped.

"Oh my God!" Carmen yelped.

"Sir, are you-" I began to ask, but I stopped myself when I took a closer look. I leaned on the flusher and the water swirled all around him, choking him and cutting off his air supply.

"_He_ was peeping at us! _His _weight caused him to fall from the pipes to his death!" Lily bellowed, and everyone laughed slightly. The sight was still disturbing, so I ran out of the stall and shut the door quickly. Everyone got out of there as fast as they could.

"I think I'm gonna vomit!" Bella freaked.

"Eeewwww!" we agreed with her.

The boys and men met us outside. "What happened, love?" Carlisle asked me, shaking my shoulders.

"I-I guess I killed him…" I answered, confused as to exactly how I did that.

His eyes widened in surprise. "With your bare hands? Where's the blood?"

"Ummm…go take a look. I can't explain it too well. He was spying on us in the ladies' room and he finally got exactly what was coming to him," I giggled.

"Mrs. Esme Cullen, you did good!" he shouted joyfully after surveying the damage. He swept me in his arms and kissed me passionately, the kind of kiss that left me breathless and swooning.

"Thank you, Dr. Cullen!" I responded just as happily. The most amazing feeling surged through my body and continued on through the night.

The next newspaper article was all about that evil man ending and the headline was perfect and in big, bold allcaps: "YOUR OBSESSION CAN KILL YOU!"

**This story is complete! YAY! How did you like this happy and humorous ending? I'll miss it but I'm cool with moving on…*sniffs*…but anyway I have loved your support, thank you k8lin713, Just4Me, that kiwi chick, K.K. Fush, cuddyannie, CarlisleandEsme, CarlisleandEsme8, Mclove210, and livi harkness! Hugs and kisses to all who reviewed, read, or put this story on favorites and alerts! The world won't end next December lol…but I bet you all knew that! Happy New Year to all and have a great time in 2012! **


	32. Your Obsession CAN Really Kill You!

**This is the alternate ending to Summer of Change...it's short but sweet. Enjoy! :D**

3rd person's POV...

Esme's daughter Lilyanne was thirteen years old and her best friends, Emmalie and Renesmee, were also thirteen. They'd joined the school swim team but they were starting to regret it as soon as Coach Evenson gave them creepy stares.

"Lilyanne, dearie. You remind me so much of a girl I used to know. Emmalie, you look a lot like my daughter, Rosalie. And Renesmee...the ending of your last name sounds very much like...Esme."

They tried to walk past him, but he had them trapped against a wall.

"She was the sexiest woman I'd ever known. Only fifteen...but you three will do!"

Lilyanne had an idea. She licked her lips seductively and squeezed her own boobs. "You want this?" Her friends looked at her like she was crazy.

"Yessss..." Charles moaned, clearly sex deprived.

"Come get it!" She wiggled her butt and jumped in the pool. Charles followed after her. She quickly got out and motioned for her friends to cover up the pool. They did it successfully and Charles drowned when he hit his head on the side in his haste to get his hands all over Esme's daughter. The girls explained what happened when they saw Esme reading the paper about her rapist's death.

"Oh, thank God..." she sobbed. "Thank you, sweetheart." She pulled Lilyanne into her lap and hugged her tightly. Carlisle joined them and put his arms around both his girls. The happy family was finally safe after all these years.


End file.
